Power Is
by Eirian1
Summary: An ancient curse and a forbidden love with deadly consequences a race against time to translate an occult text and save not only the life of a very dear friend but the soul of a brother and the spirit of the Medjai themselves.
1. Some Vacation!

Power Is

Usual disclaimers apply.I don't own them, (You know who I mean) Stephen and the guys do, for which they has my utmost respect and no copyright infringement is intended.Meirionnydd IS my own creation, if you want to use her talk to me first

Characters and events are purely fictitious, and any similarity to anyone living, dead or (g) undead, is purely coincidental

Power Is 

Chapter One 

What she had to do had been forbidden to her for thousands of years before her mother ever took a man into her bed.It had been forbidden to all of her kind, but now – as the last – she had no choice.

She slumped lower over the neck of the camel as another wave of pain swept over her from the wound in her side.It weakened her, and in rebellion she grasped the small convex gold disk more firmly in the palm of her hand.She felt its edges bite in and drive back the pain as she whispered her prayer to Isis, then with a huge effort pulled herself upright, swaying in the saddle and urging the camel onward toward the city, still little more than a speck in the distance.

**

"Evie, this is supposed to be a vacation!" Rick sighed and looked skyward as he followed his wife.

She marched into the Cairo Museum of Antiquities and straight into the curator's office without even knocking and stood glaring at the man as he smiled up into her angry face.

"My dear Mrs O'Connell," he began, standing to come around the desk and greet her.Rick saw him glance his way and threw him a helpless look.

"Don't you Mrs O'Connell me!" Evie snapped."You promised me that if there was ever the HINT of the possibility of finding that place you would call me at once."

"Evelyn…" Rick started, knowing his wife's temper and what she was capable of once she started.

"And you stay out of this!" She rounded on him."You didn't want to come here, and I suppose this is the reason…You KNEW about this didn't you?"

"Now just hold on a minute," he wasn't prepared to take the blame or bear the brunt of her temper just because she had found out about the search from the local newspaper."I see nothing wrong with Venice, it's a nice romantic location and…"

"You KNEW!" she accused again.

"I did not," he stated flatly."Just that every time we come to this place you manage to get us into some kind of trouble…"

"I manage!"Rick couldn't hold his face straight as Evie started almost spluttering."I get us into trouble!"She growled at him and half turned away just as the curator of the museum cleared his throat.

"Mrs O'Connell, we merely wanted to be sure that it was not just some kind of hoax before we troubled you to come all the way from England," he said diplomatically.

"I bet." The sarcasm in her voice did little to suppress Rick's badly hidden smile."Let me see the parchment."

"It is not here, it…"

"Let me see the parchment."She wasn't going to take no for an answer, but before the curator could agree or refuse they were interrupted by a loud crash from the main room of the museum.Evelyn sighed impatiently."Jonathan!Will you PLEASE be careful in there?"

"What?"Each one of the three people in the small office spun around to face the direction of the confused voice.Rick glanced back over his shoulder through the other door as Jonathan poked his head into the room through the door leading, not into the Museum itself, but into the storage room beside the office.

"Jonathan?"Evie asked almost fearfully."That wasn't you, was it?"

He frowned in confusion just as the sound came again.This time Rick turned to face the door and drew out one of the pistols he had for some reason thought to put on after they woke from their afternoon nap."Stay here," he told them all."I'll go take a look."

Slowly, inch by inch, he opened the door and peered into the dimly lit room full of glass cases and priceless exhibits.Seeing nothing out of place he slowly crept forward, leading with his gun one small step at a time.Movement to his left had him halt suddenly beside a tall glass case, housing a large statue of the goddess Bastet.His heart lurched and he spun around quickly, pointing his gun, ready cocked at the space where whatever had nudged him should have been.

Evie gasped.

"Jesus, Evie, I told you to stay put!"He put his gun aside and pulled her so that she too was hidden by the glass case."I nearly blew your head off."

"Yes well," she answered sternly, straightening her blouse, "I've told you before about those guns of yours."

"Ssshhh!" he chided, and they both peered around the case as another crash closer but still to their left brought their attention back to the matter at hand.

**

Silent as the shifting sand and swifter than death, the black clad figures closed on the two men half hidden behind their caravan guards, as they dusted off the tablet they were taking such pains to uncover.Their leader held up a hand, and as one they stopped and flattened themselves against the rocks at the edge of the rise.

He squinted against the sun as he looked toward what may, or may not yet prove to be his prey and sighed.Never satisfied… always searching for bigger and greater treasures, and though they were far from the fallen ruins of Hamanaptra there were yet other things, and sacred places, and the virtue of many generations of Pharaohs to guard against those with no respect.

One of the men he watched raised his voice in excitement, and called to one of the guards to bring him something from the horses.Ardeth sighed again; these men left him no choice.Silent still, he swept his hand, palm down in an arc before him. Like shadows, the Medjai surged over the ridge.

The fight was swift and brutal, but soon Ardeth had the guards subdued, and in the custody of his most trusted.He stepped out to face the astonished treasure seekers.

"Leave this place," he instructed calmly."There is nothing for you here."

"Medjai!" The older of the two men spat the word as though it were the worst insult.

Ardeth bristled inwardly, but calmly said, "Indeed.If you know of us, then you also know that I will not allow you to continue your trespass in this place."From the corner of his eyes, he caught the flash of metal, glinting in the sunlight from the rocks overhead.Reflex guided what vision could not, and a man tumbled with a cry from his hiding place to land between Ardeth and the two leaders of the expedition, Ardeth's dagger sticking up from his neck."Leave now, and I will allow you to live."He leaned down to retrieve his weapon, never once taking his eyes off the two men.

"You haven't heard the last of this, Medjai!"

Ardeth sighed, the third sigh of the afternoon."I hope, for your sake, that I have." He answered, and turned away, instructing two of his men to go and retrieve their horses from around the rocks, and two others to follow the small caravan back to their camp."Make sure that they do not return," he said in his native tongue.

"You are troubled." His second in command brought Ardeth's mount to him as he stood leaning against the stone the men had been so keen to uncover.

"The desert is unsettled today," he answered."Look at the colour of the sky."

"You worry too much." The other man clapped him on the shoulder."You need the love of a good woman to take away your tension."

Ardeth smiled, but the smile soon faded."No, my friend."He turned to look at the tablet that was partially uncovered, running his eyes over the inscriptions, but always finding his attention drawn back to one particular symbol.Making a sudden decision he swung himself up into the saddle of his horse."I do not like the way this feels.Cover that."He pointed back to the tablet, and his men hurried to do so."We ride for Cairo."

**

"It's a woman," Evie said as she and Rick looked down at the figure lying amid shards of pottery and broken glass.She was slight, little more than the size of a child.Her long straight black hair made Evie think of the figures in Egyptian paintings.She wore long, sand coloured robes, but underneath, where the robe had shifted aside, Evie caught sight of more exotic clothing.It was then that she saw the blood that had soaked through the side of her robes."Rick she's hurt."She crouched down and tried to move the woman's robes aside.As soon as her hand encountered the fabric the woman stirred and shied away."It's all right.I'm not going to hurt you."

Behind her Evelyn heard the others arrive as she reached down again, hoping that the woman had understood her, but found her attention pulled back to the woman as she began mumbling something.Evelyn leaned closer and became aware that the way she did had them all looking at her expectantly.

"M…m…. eh… j… eye," the woman muttered.

"What is she saying?" Jonathan leaned down to put his head closer to Evie's.The woman tried to move away, still muttering.Evie waved Jonathan back.

"M… eh… j…eye."

"Well I can't be sure," Evie started slowly, "but I think she's saying…"

"Med…jai, Med… jai, Medjai," the woman started muttering incoherent the single word over and over again.

"…Medjai." Evie finished.

"Come on, lets get her somewhere more comfortable," Rick moved Evie aside and bent down, meaning to pick up the woman and carry her through into the office, where they could put her onto the couch.

"Na!"Using strength she found from somewhere, she rolled away from Rick's outstretched hand and skittered backwards, pushing over a nearby vase between them.

"Rick." Evie put her hand in the middle of his chest, and pushed him gently away.They both watched as she slid back down to the ground, when she once more took up her mumbling chant."He won't hurt you," Evie approached the woman.

"Careful, Evie."Jonathan told her, looking at her full of worry.

"You can't stay here, you need help."Evie ignored her brother and continued on toward the woman.As she got even closer an arm flailed outward.Evie jumped back.

"Allah be merciful!" Everyone, Evelyn included turned toward the Curator at his exclamation of horror.

"What?" Rick snapped, "What?Is it this?" He reached for the woman's hand, and the sign on the inside of her left wrist.

"No, don't touch her.You mustn't touch her!" The tone in his voice made Evelyn reach out and grab Ricks hand to pull him away.

"Why mustn't he?" She asked."Who is she?"

"You," the Curator said instead of answering her question, "You must carry her."

"Now wait a minute.My wife is not carrying anyone..."

"And you," the curator turned to Rick, "Ride into the desert and find the Medjai."

"Oh yeah, sure, like they're real easy guys to find – if you're poking about in a musty old hole that you're not supposed to be in, but FIND them?In the desert?Are you out of your mind?"Evie tried to reach her husband, to calm him.

"You don't understand."The curator said."This woman is hurt… she needs help and she will not allow you to touch her.Your wife is the only one… the only woman…"

"And the Medjai are all men…"Rick argued.

"Please… you have to go," the Curator rang his hands, "If she dies before we can get the Medjai to her, it will be bad for us all."Rick turned and gave Evie an extremely meaningful look as she neared the woman and picked up her slight form into her arms.

**

Meirionnydd tried to push the cup away from her mouth, and then the arm that held the cup as her head was forced back and more of the foul tasting liquid was poured into her throat, almost choking her.

"Don't choke the girl!"As if the force feeding wasn't bad enough, the arrival of the man that had taken her from her home in the dead of the night and had brought her to this nightmarish place made her feel twice as sick as she already did.

He came closer, and the cup was pulled away from her mouth and she was dropped back to the rough bedding, to roll aside and retch, bringing up nothing but bile onto the dirt floor.She shuddered as he began to stroke her hair, sitting on the side of her bed.

"Don't fight it this time… let the vision take you," he said in a soft voice that she knew was for her benefit.

"I want to go home!" She spat, and tried to pull herself away from him.The sudden movement made the room begin to swim.

"But my dear you ARE home," he said.

"No!Home… to my mother!"

"Your mother is dead!" He snapped, and the words, as they always did, brought tears to her eyes."She died the moment after she gave you life because she would not give up her futile resistance…"

"I don't know what you're talking about," she whimpered as he grabbed her chin and forced her to look at him."My mother is home… in Wales.Please let me go."

"Show me what I want and we shall see…" he caressed her face – her high cheekbones, and then wound his hand into her long hair to once more pull her head back and open her mouth.And then the relentless pouring began again.

She was drowning in the bitter, numbing liquid, but that wasn't the worst of it.Already she could feel the fog beginning to gather in her brain.She feared it.It brought the visions – horrible visions… the worst of nightmares, full of creatures and spirits and…

"Anton!" With her fading awareness of the real world she heard the man that burst in on her torture. The cup was taken away again… a small blessing as she was once more dropped roughly to the makeshift bed.

"So that's his name," she vaguely registered the thought in her head.

"How DARE you burst in when I'm working," Anton said angrily to the newcomer.

"Medjai," the newcomer gasped.

"What?"

"The Medjai stopped us from uncovering the tablet!"

The last thing Meirionnydd saw before her mind drifted into the nightmare of vision was Anton as he practically took the room apart, cursing and swearing about something called the Medjai…

…and onto the foggy canvass of her brain a new sight presented itself, of a tall dark warrior, robed and fierce looking, with flowing black hair and a tattooed face.Only his eyes remained, kind and sad – and seemed to be looking straight into her.


	2. Needle in a Haystack

Power Is

Chapter 2 

(Note, there are supposed to be a lot of italics in here, if they don't work I'll have to figure another way of doing it.)

By the time Evie managed to get her taken somewhere slightly more comfortable, the woman was almost delirious from her injuries.She roused only slightly when Evie carefully peeled back her robe to look at the wound in her side.

"Oh dear," Evie sighed, and turned her head to look at the latest curator of the museum.He stood wringing his hands and she couldn't understand why the sight of the woman so un-nerved him… had caused his shocked exclamation and had made him send Rick rushing into the desert to find the Medjai."I rather think this woman needs a doctor."

"No.No doctor," the curator said, dragging his eyes away from the woman on the camping bed to look into Evie's eyes, pleading with her to do everything she could.

"Look, Mr…" she stopped as she realised she couldn't recall his name."You're obviously not rational.I'm not a doctor and this woman is badly hur…"

"No doctor!" he insisted, looking even more nervous."The Medjai, only the Medjai."

Evie sighed.Why was it that these men always had some kind of connection to that ancient tribe of sacred warriors?They must have some kind of agreement, she mused, that allowed the Museum to keep so many ancient artefacts within its walls.

"Well then perhaps you can manage to find some water, and bandages?"She saw him hesitate, so snapped, "Go on!"

When the door clicked closed behind the curator's retreating form Evie turned back to the woman hoping to see something that might answer some of the questions in her mind.As before she saw that the woman was young, and under the robes, now opened so that Evie could see the wound, she wore silk fabrics, like a dancer or like…Evie swallowed hard – the way she was dressed matched the clothes that Evie so often saw as she poured over ancient texts or inscriptions of the tombs and temples in which she spent a good portion of her time.

"Well you can't be THAT old," she said more to herself that to the woman, trying not to get any more spooked than she already was.Leaning over slightly, she lifted up the woman's left wrist to peer at the symbol there that had caused all the worry.It resembled an ankh, tattooed on the inside of her wrist, but as she looked closer still at the lines that seemed to intercept the circle at the top of the symbol, she saw that they were not lines at all, but tiny pictures of even smaller bell like disks.Her mind instantly started to rattle through the catalogue of signs, cartouches and hieroglyphs stored in her head, to see if she could find something that was similar, that might give a clue to the woman's identity.Momentarily drawing a blank she turned to see of the woman had a matching sign drawn in the same place on her right wrist.Instead her eyes were graced with the magnificent sight of the tooled leather bracer, inset with gold and sliver leaf, and Lapis Lazuli, that formed a name, as well as text that she almost automatically began to translate."Iset…"

"Nerfer…"

"Dear God!" Evie exclaimed as the woman, returning to a semblance of lucidity interrupted her reading.She looked up into the woman's eyes.They clearly showed the pain she was in, and the enormous effort it was taking to in any way communicate. "Don't try and talk," Evie said quietly. "My name is Evelyn O'Connell.I don't know if you can understand me, but I'm going to help you."Making another sudden decision she added, "I need to get you out of these things…"She reached for the laces that held the bracer closed.

She made another startled sound when the woman grasped her wrist."Na-i!"she said."Medjai!"

"Yes, well," Evie tried to compose herself, "We've sent for the Medjai.I'm sure they'll be here quite soon."She found herself hoping that Rick somehow managed to bump into Ardeth, not one of the other, less forthcoming of their number.At least then she might get some answers.She began to realise that there wouldn't be any to be had from the woman herself, who seemed, even when so gravely hurt, intent on preserving her mystery. She let go of the laces and the woman released her wrist and seemed to sag back against the camping bed – and let out a soft moan pain.

Evie softened.This wasn't a mystery, she reminded herself, this was a woman… a young woman who needed her help, and who was…Looking into her eyes, and seeing the fear there, Evie realised that the woman was not just hurt… she was dying.

**

Riding out into the desert in the middle of the afternoon was not Rick O'Connell's idea of a vacation.He sighed heavily and pulled up the reins to bring his horse to a stop and then turned though as much of a full circle as he could manage from the saddle.

"Needle in a haystack," he said to himself quietly.He scanned the horizon and the high places he could see, hoping for a glimpse of the tell tale black robes that might lead him in the right direction, but just for once saw nothing but the clear, cloudless sky over the desert.For a moment he entertained the notion of riding out to where he knew the ruins of several old temples lay, maybe even toward the place where Hamunaptra had once stood in the hope of flushing out some of the seasoned warriors, but then he sighed.It wasn't just ANY of the Medjai he wanted to bump into.On the whole he found them difficult and uncommunicative… no, it was his friend Ardeth that he hoped to find.Pulling on the reins of the horse, he turned its head to the left and kicked the beast into a canter.He'd start with the oasis – if Ardeth wasn't there, there were other places he could look.

He'd been riding for hours, alternately walking and speeding the horse along.As the sun set he was still no closer to finding either his friend, or any other of the Medjai.He thought about stopping, it wouldn't help the woman after all if he got himself lost and ended up dead from dehydration or something worse.Why did this all feel so urgent, and why oh why did he ever let Evie talk him into coming to Egypt for their vacation? With Alex in boarding school, they could have gone ANYWHERE, but no… they had to come here.

He eased back on the reins to bring his horse to a stop near a low outcrop of rocks.He needed to think.They hadn't been at the oasis – he hadn't SEEN them as he wandered near a small dig site further to the west, other than his original though of going to Hamunaptra, he was running out of options.Slowly he lowered himself from the saddle to the ground, and leaned down to set about hobbling his horse.

"If I did not know better, Rick O'Connell, I would say that you are trying to get yourself killed."The rich deep voice startled him for a second, coming out of the darkness as it did.He straightened up too quickly and almost knocked himself out on the horse's jaw then spun around to face the direction of the speaker."So, have you a death wish or does some other compelling reason bring you out into the Sahara?"The dark moved, and soon revealed itself to be the slightly amused face of his friend.Rick sighed and relaxed a little but only a little.There was a note of suspicion in Ardeth's voice that he hadn't heard in a very long time and he didn't like it.

"Don't you know any better than to go sneaking up on an armed man in the dead of night?" He retreated into humour to try and quell the unease he felt between them.

"Well then you are slipping, O'Connell," Ardeth reached out and quickly drew one of his pistols from the holster underneath Rick's arm, "for you have not even drawn your weapons." 

Rick stood very still as the barrel of the gun was pointed his way.He knew how accurate the Medjai could be with those things and at point blank range, also knew that there would be little left of his face but a bloody pulp."That's because I knew it was you," he said uncertainly.

The serious face of the Medjai before him split into the widest grin, and then still further, white teeth glinting in starlight as Ardeth started to laugh."If only you could see your face, my friend!"

In the next second Rick found himself wrapped in a hug of greeting, as Ardeth slapped him heartily on the back."Bastard!" he muttered, which only made Ardeth laugh louder.

Releasing him from the embrace, Ardeth half turned his head, and spoke a quiet word of command, and the sand either side of him rose and took on the shape of two of his men, at least that is how it would have appeared to anyone watching.Rick relinquished the reins of his horse to one of the two men, accepted the weapon back from his friend and stowed it carefully in his holster as Ardeth started to lead him in the direction of another nearby rocky outcrop.

"What brings you out here?" Ardeth asked as they walked.

"I was looking for you."

"For me?"Ardeth stopped walking and turned to look at Rick.He could see puzzlement turn to worry on the Medjai's face."All day long I have been feeling ill at ease, and now, I KNOW there is something wrong."He paused for a moment, and looked at Rick as though he was waiting for something, before he continued, "So why were you looking – who sent you to find me?"

"Well not you as such," Rick said, not liking the look on Ardeth's face."The Medjai."

Ardeth's worried frown turned to surprise, "Who sent you?"

"The new Curator," Rick explained only as much as he had to.He knew if he explained too much then the ever wary Medjai warrior would probably start throwing his orders around among his men who would then disappear off into the night and Rick would end up no nearer to understanding what was going on than he had been when he left Cairo."There was a woman turned up at the museum, she kept asking for the Medjai and apparently the Curator thought whatever problem she had was important enough to send me to find you guys…so here I am!"

"A woman?What kind of woman?"

"I don't know," Rick tried to skirt round the truth, "A woman kind of woman.From the desert I'd guess, from the clothes she was wearing, but really…I don't know.You'll have to come and find out."

"There is more to this that you are telling, O'Connell."Ardeth said, and Rick heard the grave tone in his voice, the unspoken warning that if what he had left out of the tale caused him or his people trouble, then likely their friendship would suffer."But in truth we were on out way to Cairo anyway."Ardeth called to his men and the small band peeled themselves away from the dark shadows of the rocks, bringing their horses with them and very soon Rick found himself riding hard, in the company of the Medjai, back the way he had already come.

**

Did he have the information he wanted…?Meirionnydd neither new, nor cared, she was so lost in the terror of being uncontrolled and in the middle of the visions that all rational thought, previously entertained, of denying Anton the knowledge he sought disappeared under the weight of tension under which the palace at Thebes was bowed…

_The High Priestess padded silently to her place amongst the rest of her Priestesses, and knelt as were the others before the winged image before them.Thirty eight days had passed since Seti had been brutally cut down by his mistress.Thirty eight days of a city in mourning… waiting and wondering what had happened to so provoke such a despicable act… and whether the luscious beauty that was Ankh-Su-Namun had acted alone._

__

_The Usertim knew._

The scene spun again… filling Meirionnydd with a new rush of nausea.Unknowing, she grabbed the sheets on which she lay, and didn't feel Anton's almost gentle hand that skimmed across her forehead.

"See for me my child," but she heard the command, as the spinning settled into another image that she had seen before, and that was sickening for her…

_The "serving women" bowed as they were dismissed from their mistress's quarters by the High Priest Imhotep.As soon as they were out of sight, one doubled back to go and find a vantage point – where she might continue her sacred duty in watching Ankh-Su-Namun.The other went to warn her sisters – the rest of the Usertim._

__

_For over a hundred years, since the reign of Amenhotep this ancient order of women, practicing, in secret among the royal households of Thebes, the worship of the great Goddess Usert, had been the ones to guard and guide Pharaoh's chosen – that His divinity might be recognised in Her eyes._

__

_In secret, yes… but it was an open secret.And one which, among the superstitious Royal Line of Egypt, was not only tolerated, but quietly welcomed, for Pharaoh could not afford to offend any god – male or female alike._

__

_The catlike pad of footsteps announced her presence as Ankh-Su-Namun entered her chamber.From her hidden vantage point the Usertim watched as she was greeted by her lover in a tender gesture… the sweep of his hands framing her face, before his human desire captured him and he crushed her in his embrace._

__

_The doors to the chamber were almost closed – the Usertim relaxed a little – perhaps they could keep this betrayal from Seti for longer… long enough… when the Pharaoh burst in on the lovers.Alerted by the sound of his voice as she questioned Imhotep's priests on their presence in his concubine's chamber – Imhotep melted into the shadows… ready to act if the need should arise._

__

_Of course it did…Seti was nothing if not observant."Who had touched you!"_

__

Mercifully for Meirionnydd, the vision span away into darkness, and she was not forced, yet again to witness the blood and pain of the ensuing murder – nor feel the pain in the chamber at Ankh-Su-Namun's suicide.

Suddenly she was once more slammed within the body of the Usertim High Priestess…

_"Perhaps we acted rashly in believing that she would be the one," she mused aloud, shaking away the vision of the departure of Imhotep before he could be implicated in Seti's death.She sighed and her mind drifted back through the days just gone, to see if there could be any other way to persuade Imhotep to abandon his insane scheme, of resurrecting Ankh-Su-Namun as she had insisted, than going up against him head to head._

__

_"Lady?"One of the other priestesses heard her spoken thought and queried her meaning._

__

_"I fear Imhotep will not be swayed this time by prayer alone.It is time to set in motion that which we must do." she answered."It is no longer safe for it to remain."_

__

"Yes… yes," Anton crooned, leaning closer to be sure he did not miss her words."That's right, my dear.Tell me what she did with the artefact…"

__

_"Was it a vision, Lady?"_

__

_"No, just a feeling and when we have ensured its safety we must go to him at once.We cannot afford to wait.He intends to raise the one on whom we have wasted so much time and energy.Their love defiled her.She is not the one, and therefore we have failed."She did not wait for the others to agree or disagree.In the Usertim, as High Priestess, her word was law._

__

_Reaching out, she closed her fingers around the golden handle of the Ankh-shaped sistrum that had been guarded by a Priestess of Usert since long before Amenhotep had turned a blind eye to their secret society.The bells split the air with the high sound as if in protest at being so suddenly awoken, and screamed again as she brought it down hard against the marble floor, dislodging the bells from the frame. And then seamlessly, as the sound died away, all seven women rose to their feet and fell into a star-like formation behind their High priestess as the each accepted from her hand one of the sacred bells._

"No, I can't," Meirionnydd moaned as the vision she had been instructed to seek out began to fade.She tried to hold onto it – not wanting to have to go through it again to get to this point.

"You must!" Anton shook her slightly, succeeding only in breaking her concentration still further.With a sob she lost the vision altogether, fading into another time… and feeling the tension flooding through her body…

_It was a sight that had never before been seen in living memory – and as they strode through the city of Thebes, toward the temple of Osiris, commoner and high born alike almost fell over themselves to get out of their way._

__

_Imhotep's priests moved in to try and prevent their master from being disturbed as he prayed for the strength he would need in the coming days, but surprised by the lithe, fast Priestesses, they were soon overpowered and held immobile, golden needles protruding from rings worn by the Usertim and coated with the poison of asps hovering mere hairs-breadths away from their exposed necks._

__

_"Isetnophret." Imhotep rose and turned to greet the High Priestess as she swept toward him._

__

_"Imhotep."She returned the gesture and stopped a few feet in front of him._

__

_Turning a circle around her, he held out his hand as if to receive something from her own."I knew you would come to me…"_

__

_"It has been destroyed, Imhotep," she told him, sounding tired and almost sad."As has everything we have worked for, generation upon generation; ruined for the sake of a few moments of fumbling with some arrogant girl!"_

__

_"No!" Enraged by her words, Imhotep backhanded the High Priestess and she fell back, sliding back a little across the floor.Her priestesses tightened their grip on his priests and raised their hands as if to strike."He dishonoured her with his untenable decree, with his distrust."_

__

_Isetnophret raised a hand to stop her priestesses, and suddenly her feet were beneath her again, and she stood facing the High Priest of Osiris."He was Pharaoh.It was his law to make."_

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_"He was a jealous fool.I loved her," he said firmly._

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_"And would have shared her with another?"Silence fell between them."I thought not.You are no better than he – and far less worthy."_

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_"Give me the sistrum," he commanded._

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_"I told you.It has been destroyed."She answered defiantly stepping closer, as if into an embrace."Do not take this foolish risk Imhotep.I'm warning you…"_

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_"Do NOT seek to threaten me – woman!"His patience dissolved, Imhotep raised his hands, meaning to teach the impertinent woman a lesson she would not forget._

__

_"Look down, Lord High Priest,"she sneered the last three words, holding, as she was, her own poisoned needle barely away from a point on the inside of his thigh.She felt him tense, then lower his arms."Reconsider.Ankh-Su-Namun served only herself… do you think she would not do to you as she did to Seti?"_

__

_"She loves me."_

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_Isetnophret snorted at his use of the present tense."Reconsider I say.You were seen Imhotep.How long do you think it would be before the Medjai began to listen to the whispers with power such as ours backing Nefer…?"_

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_"Nefertiri is just a stupid girl…"_

__

_"Really?"The High Priestess took a step back, away from Imhotep.Amused, she said, "One day I will remind you of that."She turned her back on him and swept down the temple hallway.As she passed them her Priestesses released their charges and fell into step with her.She had no fear that Imhotep would act in that moment – and could almost see him raise a hand to stay his Priests._

Shivering, Meirionnydd returned to herself.She recoiled in fear at the look of fury on Anton's face.

"Stupid girl!" he snapped."I told you.Find where she put the broken pieces of the sistrum."

"I can't…" she sobbed."I can't see!You already HAVE the bells… please…"

"Lucas!" Anton bellowed, and moments later stood up, away from the Meirionnydd as the man he had summoned entered the room.

"Anton?"

"Send the team back to the valley and get that tablet uncovered."Meirionnydd closed her eyes in relief.She though he was going to order the newcomer to beat her again, for not being co-operative.

"But the Medjai," Lucas whined and her eyes came open again – there was that word again – the one that so unsettled her.

"Hang the Medjai!" Anton spat."This little witch is being difficult and we need to know where to find that sistrum… and soon.We're running out of time."

**

Ardeth bounded up the steps ahead of Rick as they arrived back at the museum.Rick often found himself wondering how a man in a dress could move so fast.He stifled his smile as his friend half turned, as though he had sensed what Rick was thinking.

"You are sure there is nothing more?" Ardeth asked, and Rick frowned at the clear unease showing on the face of the Medjai chieftain.

"Relax, I told you… just a woman," he said cheerfully and moved past Ardeth to lead the rest of the way, still smiling at his irreverent thoughts.

His smile soon faded though as they got to the door of the room wherein, they had been told by the curator's assistant, they would find the woman, as Evie was just turning away from closing the door.Her face was grave and wordlessly she shook her head.

"I don't now what else I can do," she answered helplessly.

Before Rick could open his mouth to comfort his wife, Ardeth gently took her hands in his and bowed over their joined hands in greeting."I am sure you have done everything in your power."He released her hands and stepped back as Rick took a step forward.Even after years of marriage, and nothing but appropriate behaviour on the part of his friend, where Evie was concerned, he felt more than a little insecure.

"Did you manage to find out anything about her," Evie asked cheerfully, oblivious to the faces that Rick was pulling to try and stop her from giving anything away before they'd gotten Ardeth into the room.

Ardeth glanced at Rick, who shrugged, and as his friend turned to ask his wife for an explanation, he pulled a "now see what you did," kind of face in her direction.

"Really, Rick!" she scolded him, again missing the point entirely.To Ardeth, she continued, "She turned up at the museum earlier today – hurt… badly and was just asking over and over for you – well for the Medjai actually."

"O'Connell said," Ardeth told her, his face – from what Rick could see – the picture of concentration.

"She wouldn't let any of the men anywhere near her and when the Curator saw a sign she has," Rick's heart sank, "tattooed on the inside of her left wrist – a sort of ankh shaped…"

Neither of them could have been prepared for the reaction the news sparked in Ardeth Bay.He spun round, and before the surprised American could move a hand in self defence hit Rick with the back of his left hand."Idiot!"Rick backed up as Ardeth advanced on him, all traces of their friendship momentarily wiped away by the anger on the Medjai's face."You should not have brought me here!"He grabbed Rick by the lapel of his jacket.

"Well I didn't know," Rick squeaked, the excuse sounding lame even to him.He closed his hand around Ardeth's wrist as the Medjai – shaking, Rick noted – started to lift him.But what troubled Rick more than even the threat to himself, was the uncharacteristic loss of control on the part of his friend.

"You should not interfere in matters you do not understand!"As though he suddenly realised what he was doing, Ardeth released Rick, who barely managed to stay on his feet, and started to pace back and forth."A Medjai and Usertim MUST not meet."He swung round again to face Rick who once more found himself on the receiving end of his friend's wrath."It is forbidden!It has been forbidden for thousands of years."

Rick was about to make a sharp retort when, from the corner of his eyes he noticed Evelyn start to move.He twitched nervously as she put herself directly in Ardeth's path. He need not have worried.As soon as Evie raised her hand to place it gently in the centre of Ardeth's chest, the troubled Medjai stopped – and looked down.The anger and tension on his face began to fade as she started speaking quietly.

"Ardeth, we didn't know – and were not told – the significance of anything about this woman.All I know is that she's dying… and she asked to see one of the Medjai."Ardeth sighed, and glanced at Rick as he came to stand protectively at Evelyn's side."If, as you say, it is forbidden for the two of you to meet – then I would say that whatever she needs to tell you is very important… don't you think?"

Rick watched the thinking process fleeting across the normally guarded warrior's face.All the hair on the back of his neck stood on end as he thought about Ardeth's behaviour.About all the things they had spoken of on the short journey back to Cairo after their meeting."Every. Single. Time," he thought to himself, referring to Evie's uncanny knack of getting them into trouble whenever she brought them here to Egypt.

"You are right." Ardeth said at last, interrupting Rick's worried thinking."I will see what it is the woman wants."

**

It took almost every morsel of self control that Ardeth Bay possessed for him to follow Evelyn O'Connell into the room.He was aware of Rick, close behind, but otherwise, kept his gaze fixed on the hem of Evelyn's dress, using the spot to concentrate – to keep himself moving against every conditioning of culture that had ever driven him.

As the foot of a beat up old camp bed entered the periphery of his vision, he stopped walking, and with a sigh to steady the churning in the pit of his stomach, raised his gaze to the figure on the bed.

For all that she was grey from pain and loss of blood – and Ardeth could see that even the new dressing that Evelyn had placed over the wound in her side was soaking red – she was striking.Lithe and shapely, clearly very fit… and equally deadly, he reminded himself.

He watched as Evelyn gently sat down on the side of the bed.Almost at once, the woman's eyes fluttered open.She looked once toward Evelyn, and then locked her eyes on Ardeth's face.Warily, he gave her a slight bow in greeting, never taking his eyes off hers.

"Send the others away," she instructed in Arabic that was broken with pain."What we need to say does not concern outsiders."

"Nor should it concern me or any other Medjai," he replied more evenly than he had expected."This meeting is forbidden, Usertim."

"Please, Medjai…" she struggled to sit up, pushing away Evelyn's restraining hand and stifling the moan of pain that her movement caused."We have not the time for these age old taboos.You are needed now… never more so than now…"

The echo of the words spoken to his ancestors on the day that they were finally told the whole truth of Seti's death, and Imhotep's plans for his accomplice in the crime more than irritated Ardeth… and for the first time he could ever remember, he turned his back on a woman in need, ignoring the looks that flashed between O'Connell and his wife."There was a reason our ancestors forbade our contact, wise one," he said coldly and started for the door.

"There is one that seeks Her Sistrum, Medjai… to use Her power."The words stopped him in mid stride, and he spun around to fix her with a horrified stare.He saw the truth and the fear in her eyes.

Gently, to his friends he said, "Please, leave us."Then he waited until the door was closed behind them, before approaching the injured woman, knowing that she was right about the need to relax their restrictions.He carefully lowered himself into the place where moments before Evelyn had been sitting and reached out toward the dressing on her side.

The woman held up her hand, halting him instantly, though he raised a dark eyebrow in query."You are hurt," he said calmly, "And while the woman that cared for you is an excellent scholar, I doubt her skills extend to those necessary in this instance.Lie back."

She did so, though Ardeth noticed that she didn't once take her eyes off his hand as he once more reached for the blood soaked dressing, to peel it carefully aside.He saw at once that even he could do nothing more than Evelyn had already done.He met her eyes and shook his head, replacing the dressing and saw then the young woman behind the hardened façade of Usertim before she closed her eyes and sighed.

"Were we wrong, Medjai?"

"Ardeth."

She opened her eyes as he told her his name and he gave her a querying look."To give you Imhotep as we did."

He shook his head."His crimes would have been discovered."

"Arrogant pride?" she asked, without accusation.

"No."He might have said more, but a spasm of pain grabbed hold of the woman, and in fear she flailed out her hand, seeking the comfort of his.He cradled her hand between both of his own until the pain had passed, and embarrassed, she pulled her hand away."So, why do the Usertim now need the help of the Medjai once more?" he asked quietly."You have guarded the Sistrum for as long as we have watched over Hamunaptra.What has changed?"

Tears came into her eyes. "We have always had your help, Ardeth," her words surprised him, sounding as they did so like a confession.

"I don't understand."

"We knew we would never be enough in number to guard the Sistrum in the way we had to.When Isetnophret dismantled it, she placed the handle and the cradle of it within a hidden shrine on the outer wall of the City of the Dead.We guarded only the bells ourselves… you have unwittingly performed the hardest part of our guardianship."

Ardeth wondered if he should have been angry at this, but the irony of it… that the Medjai and Usertim had always been forbidden to come together… that he had been told their goals were miles apart when in truth they had always been one and the same… to guard an artefact of great power, and for the Medjai, to guard against the awakening of a creature of great evil… only made him chuckle in sad amusement.

"It is only a matter of time before he discovers that which we have kept from you these generations past.I am the last of the Usertim.He has killed us all, over the years, to achieve his goal."Her voice, growing fainter with each breath she took brought him out of his contemplation."Already he has six of the seven bells, so we have left it lamentably late to seek out your help.It is a small mercy that he has not the knowledge to use the bells themselves – for they have power and could cause great danger."

"What do you know of his intent?" He reached out to carefully touch her face and rouse her again – slipping as she was into a prelude to death.

"Little," she gasped, and reached to grasp his hand again."Only that he seeks Her Power for himself…"

"Another power hungry mad man seeking to subdue the world to his will," Ardeth sighed and shook his head.He looked up at her as her right hand, the one he did not hold, fell lightly against his leg.

"Take it off." she gestured weakly to the bracer she wore, and whispered, "I have given my life in guardianship of the bell I carry.Please, Medjai… please… Ardeth… Keep it safer now – and keep the handle and the cradle from falling into unwise hands."

Carefully his nimble fingers untied the laces, freeing her wrist from the encasing leather, and picking up the small, disk like bell he found beneath.Immediately he could feel the power flowing though it.For the moment though he set them on the bed beside the dying woman, for now that was all she was… 

"Rest now," he said gently."I will do what I can."

Almost panicking, she grasped for his hands again."Please stay!"

No stranger to death, Ardeth sat with her as her breathing grew more and more shallow and whispered the blessing of Allah on her soul as she drew her last breath.

**

"Did anyone ever tell you that listening at keyholes is wrong?" Evelyn turned at the sound of her husband's voice.

"I wish they'd speak English!" she told him, ignoring his mild reprimand.

"Why would then, this is nothing to do with us," Rick said, "We're on vacations."

"But aren't you just the tiniest bit curious as to who she is and why she was so insistent at seeing the Medjai, especially with it being so forbidden and everything."

"No."

"No?"Evelyn flashed an inviting look in her husband's direction, hoping he would understand that she was more interested in the strange woman's tale than she was in 

"No," Rick said firmly."This time I'm putting my foot down.We are NOT getting involved."

"But Rick," she said, and sidled up to him.

"No." 

They both jumped as the door opened, revealing a saddened Ardeth Bay, holding in his hands a small gold bell, and a leather bracer, which Evelyn recognised as the one the woman had been wearing.

"She's gone?" Rick asked gently.

"She is, may Allah rest her soul," Ardeth answered, then snapping the bell and the bracer into a pouch on his belt even as Evie was trying to get a better look at both he said, firmly."Come."

"Come?"Rick's alarm must have showed in his voice because his wife gave him a self satisfied look."Come where?"

"We must arrange for this woman to be properly buried." Evelyn's face fell, and this time it was Rick who relaxed, and smiled smugly at her at least until Ardeth spoke again."And then we ride for Hamunaptra!"


	3. Friends and Enemies

Power Is 3

Chapter 3 

A light breeze blew across the sands and into the still open tent to ruffle the pages of a small leather bound note book that lay open on the chest of the man that had so carelessly fallen asleep without securing his tent against the Sahara night.

Anton Ferrier stirred slightly as the sound of the papers rustling together reached his ears and penetrated into the dream he was having.It must have been rather like the last sound his father had heard before he was attacked.They said that, didn't they…?That if you heard them then you were already too late.

He tightened his fingers around the small suede roll that he cradled under his arm."No, it's mine!" he moaned, still dreaming his fathers last few days… as he always did when he had been reading the journal.

_An arm closed around his throat and pulled him back against something sharp that dug into the small of his back.Breath puffed against his cheek as all around him the men in his expedition were crying out.He struggled, but was held in a grasp too firm for him to break._

__

_"You were told to leave this place." The heavily accented voice whispered in his ear."Why is it that you people NEVER listen?"_

__

_"Who are you?"He squeaked, berating himself for sounding like a frightened little school boy._

__

_"Would it make a difference," the voice beside his ear purred dangerously, "for you to know?"_

__

_"You're killing my men."_

__

_"You were told to leave or die.You made your choice."As if to underline the message, the desert around them grew silent as the last of his men fell at the hands of these silent, desert demons._

__

_"Who ARE you?" he asked again._

__

_"I am __Kareem__ __Bay__.My warriors and I guard this place from those such as you."_

__

_"Your people?"_

__

_"Medjai."_

__

_"Please let me go."Something about the calm, unyielding strength coming from the warrior grabbed the child within the man and dragged the plea for mercy from his frightened lips._

__

_"But now you belong here," the warrior said."This is after all the City of the Dead."_

__

Anton squirmed, feeling his father's pain as the warriors words brought the realisation that the blade was already buried deep within his body – and that only the fact that the warrior had not yet removed the blade had kept his blood from flowing.Sweat beaded on his brow as he tossed his head from side to side.

Another breeze blew threw the tent, ruffling the pages of the book still more – but to Anton, it was the sound of the sand coming up to meet his descent – or so it seemed, and as a sudden gust swept in on the heels of the breeze, lifting the book from his chest completely, to fall with a dull thud to the sand beside his head, Anton woke with a gasp, breathing hard.

"Bastard," he whispered into the night, and pressed his hand to the dull pain in his back, legacy of the dream."Damnation take you and ALL your people!"

He swung his legs off the low bed, and sat for a moment, trying to catch his breath before he picked up his father's journal and clutched the suede wrapped bells closer still as he walked to the open doorway of his tent and looked up into the night sky to find Sirius…Her star.

By some miracle, and he liked to believe that She had had something to do with it, his father hadn't died that night, but had managed to find his way back from Hamunaptra toward Cairo, and sheltering from the blistering heat of the Sahara sun, had stumbled into what he had at first thought was a small cave…

_Delirious… heedless of any other danger that might have been lurking in the shadows of the cave he stumbled and fell to his knees against the wall.He was dying anyway – the Medjai had seen to that – so what did he have to fear from any desert creature except more of what he already had._

__

_Wind was whistling through a gap in the rocks… it sounded like a whisper… a voice… a woman's voice, whispering words he couldn't quite catch…_

__

_"I-bet… bhai…" he tried to form the words he thought he could hear with his own breathless whisper and stumbled to fall heavily against a lighter patch of rock in the back of the cave wall._

__

_"I can't hear you!" He yelled into the darkness, and felt a sudden sting against his leg.Looking down he saw the snake and reached an already bloodstained hand down to tear it from his flesh and toss it into the darkness._

__

_"Yah-too eh…" the voice continued to whisper, almost mocking him._

__

_"I don't understand!"He brought his hands down hard against the rock, and it gave before him, crumbling almost into dust.What he saw beyond gave him the strength to defy death just that little bit longer – even put him beyond the reach of the poison now moving sluggishly through his barely filled veins._

His mother never told Anton who had found his father, or where… just that he had been in a hospital in Cairo when he finally died.She had wanted nothing to do with his father's estate… and so, barely seventeen it had been Anton that had travelled to Egypt to retrieve his father's things – to bring his body home to France to be buried as was right and fitting to his status.

Anton turned away from the stars at last and made his way to a low table, where a lamp still burned, illuminating a small piece of parchment that was covered in badly formed hieroglyphics, barely legible cartouches and scrappy hieratic script.He leaned down and almost lovingly brushed his fingers across the parchment as though he could touch his father through those symbols he had copied as best he could… and then hidden within the leather bindings of his journal.

"But _I understand," he said to the breezes, still chilling the air of his tent."And I have done your bidding, My Mistress of the Night."With a sigh he pulled out his stool and turned his attention once more to the last part of the text, the part his father had hurried over – as though he has known that someone was coming._

And someone had…

_"I knew that mercy was a foolish path to have walked."She spat in his face as he forced her head back, baring her neck to his knife."I should have finished what the Medjai began!"_

__

_He hit her then, almost letting his rage get the better of him and for a time had to struggle with her once more to subdue her, to pin her to the ground so that he could tear the sleeve of her robe and reveal the bracer she wore.They all wore them._

__

_"Tell me where to find it!" he demanded, using his knife to cut the leather ties that held the bracer to her arm, and quickly pocket the bell that was beneath._

__

_"You are a fool, and you don't understand what you're doing." She told him, and making a sudden grab for his hand that still held the knife, plunged it into her own body._

__

_"Stubborn, a pity that!" he shrugged and let go of the knife – standing to watch as the life left her body._

Anton sat back and rubbed his hand across his face.Past was past, where was the point in revisiting it.It couldn't help him now.It wouldn't tell him where to find the rest of the sistrum, so that he could assemble it and finally use the power he would gain.All he had to do was to get the stupid little Usertim bitch to use her powers and finally talk.That and hope his men were more successful this time in getting the tablet that might lead him further in his quest.

**

The six men pulled up nervously and got off their horses, each of them drawing their weapons, taking no chances.They didn't want to fail again, but neither did they want to end up victims of their own carelessness.They'd had it drummed into them long and hard enough how well the Medjai fought in protection of artefacts such as the one that Anton had sent them to retrieve.

Trying to move quietly, one of the men, Rob Graham, signalled to the other that he was taking the long way around the rocks to get to the tablet, to see if he could flush out anyone that might be hiding there.

A low pitched whistling sound was the only warning they got, before the man in the centre of their formation fell to the ground screaming and clutching his thigh, where a wicked looking blade was embedded through to the bone.Four men opened fire, still without a target in sight.

The voice came out of the desert canyon itself, echoing off the walls and not revealing the position of the Medjai. "You were told to leave this…"

"Yeah, yeah yeah," said Willis, "We heard this one!Leave zis place or die!" he mocked the accent.

Apparently the Medjai took offence, for he was forced to backstep quickly as a volley of bullets his the ground at his feet.

"Take your companion and get out of here!" The voice came again, bouncing down between the walls hard on the heels of the gunfire.

"We're going nowhere, _pal, until we got what we came for."_

"Then you leave us no choice!"

The four men ran for cover as more bullets rained down on them, firing back as best they could.Luck was with them, as a flash of a black robe revealed the position of at least one of the Medjai and three of the four guns turned that way, pinning down the man, allowing Willis to pick his way forward, darting from rock to rock toward where the cornered Medjai had been seen.

More gunfire, from the other side of the canyon forced him to pause, "You sons-of-bitches never give up, do you!" he hissed as chips of rock flew to sting the side of his face.

**

Rashid cursed his carelessness, and swung the butt of his rifle upward and into the gut of the man he had let get too close just as the click of a drawn back hammer split the air behind him – counterpoint to the booming echo of the gunfire below.The man grunted and staggered, but still squeezed the trigger, but thankfully the shot went wide.Merely tearing a hole in the sleeve of his robe and grazing his skin.

Ignoring the pain he rolled quickly forward, swinging the rifle again, like a cudgel to keep his attacker on the retreat until he could get his feet under him and face him on even footing, but the man was good – Rashid had underestimated him, and came up in time to receive the right hook square in the face.

This time he staggered backward, and more annoyed with himself that the man with whom he was fighting, reached behind him to draw the long bladed, curving dagger, barely registering that the gunfire in the canyon below had stopped.

"Oh, so you want to play do you?"The man produced a knife of his own, wide bladed with vicious looking teeth all down one edge.For a time the two men circled each other, neither one making the first move and then the man took a swing, and Rashid sucked in his belly and followed the arm as it went past, almost rolling around the man to get behind him.

It was too easy, he could have plunged home his blade and ended it there and then, but that wasn't who he was, he had more pride that that.Reversing the blade, he punched the man hard with the hilt in his kidney, sending him sprawling forward, and once more took up a fighting stance, waiting for him to get up.

"What's the matter?Don't got the stomach for it?"The man on the ground rolled over, gasping for breath and spitting out the mouthful of sand and dust he had inhaled.

"Get up!" Rashid ordered harshly, switching his knife to the other hand and back again as the man climbed to his feet.He came at him again almost at once, and this time blades clashed, throwing sparks into the sunlight amid underhand punches that proved to Rashid that the man had no honour.

Gasping for breath the two men pushed apart and began to circle again, before Rashid lunged powerfully forward again, connecting with the other man's blade to send it spinning far off and over the edge of the cliff.He lunged a third time and his quarry lost his footing and fell to the ground hard.

**

Graham closed his eyes, squeezed them shut tightly expecting the killing blow any second.

Nothing happened.

He opened first one eye, and then the next to see the Medjai warrior slumped on the ground in front of him face down and Willis standing over him, just lowering rifle he'd used as a cudgel to the ground.

"Quit playing around with the natives and come give us a hand would you?" Willis waited while Graham stood and dusted himself off, feeling a little sheepish.

"What about this guy?"He kicked the unconscious Medjai.

"Take him back to Anton I guess." Willis answered, turning the Medjai onto his back and starting to strip him of his many weapons."He hates these guys for some reason, so maybe he'll give us something extra for bringing him one to play with.Jeez, ugly looking critters aren't they – tattooing all over like that?"

Graham bend down to take the Medjai's other arm as he and Willis began to drag him down the slope, back toward where the others were busy chiselling out the stone tablet from the rock wall into which it had been set.

As they reached the others and unceremoniously dropped their burden to the ground Graham looked around for his knife.He spotted it some feet away to the right of where they were all digging.He noticed too the other black clad figure lying face down in the dirt.He whistled to himself.

"That's all there were?Just two of 'em?" he called back over his shoulder. 

"Yep," a small wiry man, walking with a noticeable limp answered."Least ways, we think so."

"You didn't check?"

"You hear anyone shooting at us?" The wiry man paused by the unconscious Medjai and drew back a foot to kick him hard in the side and then yelped in pain as his injured leg protested at suddenly having to support his weight."Bastard!" he added for good measure just as the Medjai started to stir towards waking.

**

Ardeth sighed, and leaned against the tree at the edge of the oasis, staring out over the darkened desert.The air smelled dusty, and the wind was already blowing in little gusts around the bottom of his cloak.It was going to be a cold night, and for a second he looked toward the small fire burning in the centre of the camp.

"When not?" he breathed into the darkness, and then with a self deprecatory chuckle he turned his attention back to the desert.He closed his eyes and tried to steady the torrent of confusion and worry that was weighing him down.The last of the Usertim was dead… what would that mean for him…?For the Medjai…?

He sighed again.He knew the answer to that question already.Another reason to guard what was left of Hamunaptra… so nothing had changed.Nothing ever would, or did.He shook his head to rid himself of the strange melancholy threatening again, as it had on and off over the last few days.That wasn't true – much had changed.Things were better now…Imhotep was no more a threat, buried as he was under tons and tons of sand in an unremarkable hollow in the ground… he could, for the first time he could remember, think about settling down – fulfilling his obligations to his people in giving them someone to lead when he was no more.But to what end… if all the threat were gone?

_You know better than that._

The desert breathed the words into his heart as it had since his manhood rite.He had been so sick then… and suddenly he understood what had so bothered him about the events of the last few days… so close to dying.

_An accident, a stupid careless accident._

__

_He woke and couldn't tell if it were night or day.The whole of his body burned.A fire raging within him, not longer just in those places where he knew he was now marked with the symbols that set him out as unique amongst his fellow warriors._

__

_He rolled onto his back and heard a voice cry out. It took him a moment or two to realise that it was his voice and he was crying out for the sudden added pain against the tender spots on his shoulders and the small of his back._

__

_"Merciful Allah, was it supposed to hurt this much!" he thought, pushing with an equally painful arm to get back to his side, and somehow from there to his knees.His head was swimming with nausea, and he thought for a moment that he might be sick, but he just needed to be out of the heat of the tent… out into the desert._

__

_He would be safe there.He could rest there._

He pushed away from the tree and took a few steps forward until he felt the ground soften beneath his feet and knew he was on desert sand again.He crouched down, picking up a handful of the still warm, shifting particles and let them run through his fingers.

_Water… Carefully dripped onto the fire of his face._

__

_"Where am I?"_

__

_"Safe," It was a woman's voice, and he opened heavy eyes to try and see her face.The sun was behind her, or perhaps she WAS the sun… he couldn't tell… he didn't care – just that she was cooling the fire that he had become with hands and fingers that were both gentle and cold._

__

_"Are you even here at all?" he questioned, somehow knowing he was sick and probably hallucinating._

__

_"I will always be here," she answered, and gently pressed her hands against the wings, and the falcon's head tattooed on his chest."And you will know."_

__

_"I don't understand."_

Instinct alone guided the next heart stopping ten seconds of his life as, feeling the air move behind him rather than hearing anything, Ardeth came up in a spiralling motion, drawing his blade.

The cup Evelyn raised in self defence as his blade swung in towards her head shattered before he managed to pull the strike and let go of the blade so that it dropped to the ground at their feet.He turned and walked quickly away a few steps, spitting foul curses in Arabic and breathing hard to stop his heart from tunnelling any further out of his chest.Then he came back and picked up his blade, breathing out hard and sheathing it, fixed her with a very serious gaze.

"Yes, well," she said, composing herself."I don't think I want to know what it was you just said."

He turned and paced back toward the tree again."In Allah's name, Evelyn, you know better than to creep up behind me, or any of my men!" he turned to face her again.

"You missed supper," she said, blinking owlishly, only now starting to look pale, as though realisation of what had nearly happened was only just dawning on her."I thought you might be hungry."Meekly she held out a bowl in his direction and shivered slightly.

"Thank you," he sighed again, steadier now that the adrenalin rush had passed.He saw the shiver and quickly unfastened his cloak, setting it around her shoulders before he took the bowl."It will be a cold night."

He sat down with his back to the tree, starting to eat, but aware that Evelyn had not moved to go back to the fire.He looked up at her in query, turning further still to face her as she lowered herself to the packed ground beside him, a silent and supportive friend.

"I was just thinking about my coming of age," he said quietly when she didn't speak."I was very sick.One of the needles was not clean, my body became poisoned."

"And what happened?" she prompted him to continue with a gentle question.

"I do not exactly know," he confessed, turning his face out into the desert again, even as his eyes looked inward."I saw things… things I did not understand at the time… a connection to things that I always seem to have known, but were never anywhere a part of the knowledge passed to me by my father."

"Perhaps that's part of why you lead your people so well," she said firmly, and that made him look at her."And why you feel this evil power rising now."

"Laa," he said, forgetting himself for a moment."There is no such thing as evil power, Evelyn."

"But Imhotep…"

"Was just a priest," Ardeth interrupted, "With a priest's power.It is the way he used it that defined him as an abomination."

"Yes, but…"

"Consider this," he said, and set aside the bowl of food that Evelyn had brought for him."All of my life I have battled for the protection of Hamunaptra, to prevent the creature that was Imhotep from being awakened into the world to once more work his evil upon the innocent and bring about the end of the world.An act of good, no?"

"Yes of course," Evelyn smiled at him, but confusion stayed in her eyes, as though she were working hard to follow his line of thought, or maybe to get ahead of him to refute what he was about to say.

"And yet all of the people I have killed through the years, to prevent just that… how did they view the use of my power as a warrior?How did their families?"He watched understanding enter her face, like a sunrise over the desert and smiled, leaning back against the tree, knowing she had understood."There is no such thing as evil power, my friend, nor is there good.Men are good or evil, women too.The power just exists, it is the use to which it is put that defines its nature… even that of the gods."

"You doubt yourself."Evelyn stated.

He shook his head."I doubt nothing, least of all myself.I act with absolute certainty that my actions and my words are guided by what I _believe to be right and good."_

"Then why this introspection?"

"Intro…?"

"Self examination… these thoughts you're having."Evelyn clarified.

"It is only through this introspection," he tried out the new word, "that I am able to maintain that certainty.And it is not just myself that I examine, but all of the facts, all that I know to be happening, and how that puzzle might fit together to form a picture of the truth."

"This is about that woman, isn't it?"He turned to look at her then… to look into her as he attempted to fit the one last piece into the puzzle; to complete the picture of how he believed he needed to act in this case."What did she tell you that's got you so worried?And who are the Usertim anyway?And… and… and why are the Medjai forbidden from being with them?"

His quiet chuckle cut off her stream of questions."What would you like me to answer first?"

"Answer them in whatever order makes the most sense, Ardeth."Evelyn moved closer to him, and put her hand onto his shoulder.He turned his head to look at the hand and then into Evelyn's concerned expression as she continued, "Rick and I… we're worried about you."

"The Usertim were a group of Priestesses that has existed for thousands upon thousands of years, in worship of the Great Goddess Usert, even into modern times, in order to protect an item of great power.It is written that with this item, a sistrum, it is possible to bring someone back from the dead… that in fact Usert herself used it in that way."

"And you think that someone might use it to bring back Imhotep?"Evelyn turned away from him then, and let her hand slip from his shoulder into her lap.He watched her for a moment before he sighed and shook his head.Then he reached into his pouch to bring out the small gold disk that was the last of the seven Usertim bells.

"I have no doubt that whoever has the other six of these intends to use Her power, but to what ends – I do not yet know, though I fear, as did the Usertim that his intentions are not entirely honourable."He held the disk between his finger and thumb in front of Evelyn and every muscle in his body tensed as she reached up a hand to take it from him.

"She asked you to guard this didn't she?" she looked at him across the top edge of the bell and he met her eyes, inclining his head in a slight affirmative nod.

"She asked that I keep it safe," he said.

"But is seems so innocuous… so harmless."

"Seven women have died because of such a harmless item." He closed his eyes, and when he began to speak once more it was very slowly, measured and almost hesitant."Evelyn, you understand, I hope that I would never willingly put you in any kind of danger.I love both you and Rick as though you were my own blood… and would never do anything that would endanger you… or come between you and your husband."She jumped as he closed his hand around hers, still grasping the edge of the golden bell."But no man should ever carry such a thing as this.It is the power of a woman to give life… not that of a man."

"You… you want me to keep it?" Evelyn swallowed hard.

"I fear that I need to ask that of you, yes," he answered."Though it is not something that I ask willingly."

"If you think it will help."He watched her left hand twitch in her lap; as though there was something she was trying to do, or wanted to do but didn't feel she could.He let go of her then, and reached up for one of the charms around own neck.Unfastening the knot, he took back the bell and threaded it onto the leather thong along with the charm through the small hole in the centre of the bell.Then he refastened the knot and slipped it carefully over Evelyn's head, teasing her hair from beneath the leather while she slipped the bell into the front of her blouse.

"Come," he let out a deep sigh, and slipping both his hands under her elbows, he helped her to her feet.For just a moment he thought he felt her lean on his arms as they stood, but she smiled faintly into his troubled and querying expression.

"Just tired," she said.

"Then I will see you safely back to your husband's side."They walked in silence the short way back to where Rick was busy stoking the fire.

"Everything all right?" Rick asked as Evelyn sat down beside him, and Ardeth nodded to him respectfully.

"We are quite safe."He answered, and turning started toward where his men stood sentry around their camp.

"Ardeth your cloak," Evelyn called after him.

"Keep it," He called back, and then under his breath added."It will be another cold night."

**

She trembled with the cold that seeped through her meagre clothing.The man, Willis she thought, though she could never keep them all straight in her head, dragged her roughly to where Anton was waiting.She had no idea of the time, except that it was late… and that she hadn't had much sleep.She knew that from the nausea she still felt from the herbs and drugs he had made her take to induce the visions.

"Please…" she whimpered as she got to within earshot, "No more…"

"Oh but my dear, they brought me a gift," he turned from the figure that was tied to a large post at the edge of the camp to face Meirionnydd.Until he mentioned it, she hadn't noticed him, but as she looked up, she backed away, straight into the arms of the man that had been sent to get her.

"Medjai," she breathed, remembering from the moment she lost herself to the visions, the face, strong, angled… a vision of painted beauty but…"It wasn't you…"The face from her vision had been bearded; the tattoos on his face a different shape.She found herself both breathing a sigh of relief and sympathy mixed.She knew how Anton hated these men.

"What are you TALKING about?" Willis shook her slightly and she cried out, not in pain exactly, but in the panic and fear of the moment.

Her sounds of distress roused the stricken Medjai, and for a few moments, he fought against the bonds holding him in place until Anton raised a finger and Willis stepped from behind her and swung his fist hard to connect with the man's stomach.Meirionnydd looked away, the violence an assault to her gentle nature.

"I'm all right," she whispered, wanting to reach out to the captive, to stop him from provoking Anton any further than he already was.Her quiet words seemed to calm the man, who even with the assault had spat Arabic curses in Anton's direction.She didn't understand the words, but the tone she did – and she knew that Anton would have understood.To Anton she said, "Please leave him alone."

"Then tell me what I need to know!" He ordered her.

"I don't know anything…" she almost pleaded with him.Violently he spun her around to face the Medjai as Willis moved in with a knife."No!" she didn't want to be the cause of any other's suffering."I don't know anything!"

"Leave the girl alone." The voice was broken, and far from strengthening her resolve, as Meirionnydd was sure he intended, it brought tears to her eyes as he continued."Do not fear for me. Tell him noth…" he broke off and could not stifle the cry of pain as Anton's lackey pressed the dagger deep into the muscle of his arm.

"Stop!" she wept, "Please…"

"Then open yourself to the visions." Anton demanded, "Let her show you what I need to know.Let her come… my Dark Queen."

"Do not…" the Medjai gasped.

"Kill him!" Anton ordered calmly.

"No!"Without warning, anger rushed in to replace the fear and pain she had been feeling a moment before, and she flew at Anton, catching both him and Willis by surprise enough that she was able to rake her nails down his cheek.Her momentary elation was swept away a moment later by a horribly familiar feeling – but then no, not familiar.She felt as though she were suffocating, as though someone or something were suffocating her and when Anton pushed her away she fell unceremoniously to the sandy ground.

**

Rashid closed his eyes as the order came to end his life.Not that he feared death, he had faced it every day of life, but he feared what might come in the wake of his death.The scream that came from her lips a moment later chilled his blood.

He opened his eyes and saw her fall to the ground, and then a moment later he saw her rise to her feet without moving a single muscle.

The Ancient Egyptian words were disembodied, creeping like the wind through sand across the small camp, even though the girl's lips were moving.

"What the…" The man beside Rashid dropped the knife and backed off a step, looking anxiously between his captor and the girl.Then she turned her gaze his way.

Her face curled into a sneer."Medjai!"_Do you honestly think you can prevail against me?The last of the words seeped into his bones and his blood, but defiant to the last Rashid held her gaze as she almost floated toward him._

"Quickly," he vaguely heard the man called Anton talking to the other."Go and fetch the tablet… bring it here!"

_Fool _

Rashid couldn't be sure if she was speaking of Anton or speaking to him. In that moment it was more important for him to get the girl to fight whatever power possessed her then. "Fight it girl!" he forced his own fear away, "Fight the abomination!"

"Stupid Medjai!" Anton addressed him, "You really think this slip of a girl could resist the spirit of the Great Goddess herself?"

"This girl is worth three times your pitiful hide would ever…"

_Hush, Medjai, and do not fear…Rashid's flesh crawled as she passed her fingers over the marks on his face.__I may yet have a use for your, "pitiful hide." _

__

Rashid cried out when she dug her fingers into the knife wound on his arm.Pain wiped out awareness of what she said next, though he doubted he would have understood anyway, for as his awareness returned she was speaking with Anton in the Ancient tongue of her worshipers.For many long moments the conversation went back and forth, and as time passed, Rashid could see the fight that began in the girl…He started to hope that all was not lost.

First her body began to shake… from time to time she would she would stagger, and throw a half glance in his direction.

"Yes, girl… fight.Free yourself…" he said under his breath., and tried to will whatever strength he had left into her small frame, aware that if she lost the fight it would be worst not only for him, but for everyone else as well.He saw the girl fall to her knees on the ground as she shook off the spirit in possession of her body and thought the moment was won.

"Leave me alone!" she screamed at the heavens, the pain of her fight clear in her voice."Let me go!"She curled up, and in the next moment snapped straight so quickly that Rashid feared that her body would break in two.

_Bring me one of the bells_

The thought rang out in all languages at the same time as the spirit and the girl fought for domination of the body that now writhed on the ground.

_Find me a more suitable vessel._

Rashid started to fight against the bonds once more – he too had seen the vision of the face that had floated across the camp site in the wake of the last command… the cruelly beautiful face, with dark knowing eyes and long dark hair.He had to free himself.He could not allow this to happen.

**

She felt as though she were being torn in half…she hadn't even the strength to push herself away from Anton as he crouched beside her, and thrust something cold and hard into her hand.It was round and the edges of it bit into her hand.

But it hummed with the same power that that running through her body and she wanted nothing more than to throw it from her, far, far away.Before she had the chance, Anton closed his fingers over hers.

"Say the name, Meirionnydd… call to her for me.Rescue her from her sleep of death…"

"Aahhh,"

"Yes…"Anton crooned.

"No, you must not!"Meirionnydd managed to turn her head; to see the Medjai struggling against his bonds.

"Say the name!" Anton shook her against the ground, forced her eyes away from the Medjai's.He held her chin in fingers that pinched so that she could see nothing but his eyes, burning into hers.

"Nu…."

"Say it!"

"Ankh…"

"No!" The Medjai's voice was silenced as Willis recovered his senses enough to punch him in the stomach.Meirionnydd could almost feel the fist connecting as though with her own body as all of her senses blew wide apart and the name tore from the depths of her very soul.

"Ankh-Su-Namun!" The cry was almost primeval, and brought dark clouds rolling in over the desert.A burst of heat that was so intense travelled along her arm and made her cry out a second time, wordlessly this time.

Sickening spiralling visions passed through her mind, following the heat through her body and her mind…For many long and agonised moments she couldn't tell if they were her own thoughts, or memories, or those of the person to whom she had just called.

_A man, honey glazed skin, dark expressive eyes… rimmed with tears… For a second she felt sympathy, and then the realisation that he could no longer give her that which she desired, she turned and ran.She ran from the man – turning her back on him as he had never done on her.A wave of emotion, contempt – giving way to fear and then the pain of a thousand stings… more – and then nothing… darkness._

"Again!"Anton pulled her up to sitting."She hears you… you will draw her near… you will give our Lady a body – give me a tool…"

"Ankh-Su-Namun!" Meirionnydd sobbed.

The lightning struck the ground a mere few feet from where she lay curled on the ground and sand exploded in a whirlwind around the small camp.Meirionnydd tried to cover her face, but Anton still held her by the wrist, the fingers of his other hand curled around the bell and snatched it from her and then jumped backward.Meirionnydd tried to raise her head, to see what had so startled him…

"Poor little thing," the woman's voice was deep, accented and faintly mocking."It seems she is a little overawed."A long fingered hand, blackened by the many small punctures reached out to caress her cheek and Meirionnydd screamed. 


	4. Spirit of the Desert

Power Is 4

Chapter 4 

_Was he dreaming?It felt as though he might have been, his eyes were closed and it was dark, but he could see and he could feel a pull from somewhere.What might have been a sigh passed ethereal lips as he tried to catch hold of the many thoughts that were spinning a confused web about his mind.He had to confess to himself that in that moment… when he felt he had suddenly woken from oblivion into the dream – it had to be a dream because he could feel nothing physical – that it disturbed him to feel so out of balance._

__

_He breathed a deep breath, summoning the power of his mind to bring back his memory – to let him remember where he was, who was with him, and why he couldn't wake up…_

__

_It was like a stream running backwards, he remembered the fall, the pressure of hot little hands to pull him down, the hurt, the betrayal… Her dark eyes, calculating…_

__

_Agonised, he opened his mouth and let out a primordial scream that released his spirit into the air – but nothing more… he still could not wake._

**

Jonathan wasn't sure what hurt the most… his head or his pride.How could he have been so stupid?It was a good hand… it should have won and now… he looked around him at the ramshackle group of natives and their Egyptologist masters, wondering where he fit in.

"Working off a gambling debt… I mean… I ask you!" he muttered under his breath.

"Not thinking of trying to run, are you Carnahan?" A man manoeuvred his horse along side of Jonathan who desperately fought with an uncooperative head – full of the fog of a bloody good hang over – to get to the man's name.

"What?Oh no… no," he let out a bit of a laugh and waved an arm."Just wondering what all the fuss is about?"

All around them the people of Cairo were hurrying through picking up bits of fallen building, leaves from palm that had been planted for shade, and nervously looking up at the cloudless blue sky as though, at any moment it was going to start spitting poisonous snakes in their direction.

"Some kind of storm apparently," the man answered, "Got the natives all worked up, that's for sure."

"What, like a sand storm you mean?" Jonathan looked nervously around, that was all he needed; to be dragged out into the desert in storm season.

"No, like a storm… lightening, thunder… the whole nine yards."

"Ah…Marshall?" The man looked over a Jonathan, confirming the sudden insight he'd had into the name."You're not going to make me walk the whole of the way, are you?"

Marshall laughed."Jonathan old buddy, I think you and me are going to get along just fine!"He called to one of the natives who brought a horse over for Jonathan.He sighed with relief, both for the fact that he was not going to have to walk, and that it wasn't a camel he was expected to ride.

"So just how far is this dig of yours… not too far I hope, because if there's storms it might not be safe, we might get lost and…"

"Relax Jonathan!" Marshall reached over and clapped him on the shoulder as he mounted the horse."It's about a two day's ride – You'll be fine."

"I say, wouldn't it be quicker to take the train?" Jonathan asked hopefully.Riding in the desert for a couple of days was not his idea of a good time.

"Would you maybe prefer a few days enjoying the hospitality of the local jail?" Marshall reminded Jonathan of the alternative.

**

Rick knew he was alone the moment he woke and he panicked."Evelyn?" he called softly, already reaching for his boots."Evie!"

He got up and quickly left the tent, stopping instantly at the sight of the chaos that surrounded him.

"Evie!"

"Rick," He turned at the sound of her voice and almost fell over the guy rope for the tent."I'm all right."

He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her forehead as she leaned into him."I woke up and you were gone.I was worried about you."

"I'm all right.I just," she half shrugged, stopped speaking and then started again."I just woke up and couldn't get back to sleep.It was early and I didn't want to wake you."They spent a few moments sharing a hug that spoke volumes about the way they still felt about each other, even after all this time, then Rick eased back and let his mind register the mess that had become of the Medjai camp site.

"What the…"

"Wild isn't it?" Evie answered, looking up at him with sparkling eyes."Ardeth said there was some kind of storm in the night… that the desert sky lit up for miles.Blew the sand about quite a bit, don't you think?"

"A storm?"Rick leaned down his expression fixed firmly in an "I don't like this," kind of expression."And where is he anyway?"He moved a couple of steps away from his wife, looking for his friend amid the black robed men that even now were trying to bring order to the Chaos."And what was with you two last night?"

"Nothing," Evie said, perhaps a bit too quickly and Rick turned around, his head leading his shoulder as his eyes bore into her."Well, except that he was… worried," she added."He talked about his past a little bit… maybe he thinks that what happened then is somehow connected with what's going on now…"

"Not another one of those, 'it is written' moments! And didn't I tell you we were not getting involved this time?" Rick could never stay mad at her for long, but his exasperation was clear in his voice… exasperation at himself, his own insecurities that made him think – ridiculously – that there may have been something going on between Evie and Ardeth.

Evie opened her mouth, no doubt to protest that it was not her fault when a hand fell heartily onto Rick's shoulder.

"It is said that when a married man wakes with the temper of a camel, he has not properly enjoyed the company of his wife."Ardeth's voice held a hint of amusement."Good morning, my friend."

"Yeah!" Rick nodded, and gave Ardeth an exaggerated sour look as Evie turned away, blushing. "So what's with the storm?"

Ardeth shook his head, instantly his demeanour changed from the light heartedness of a moment before, to the serious Medjai Chieftain, struggling to come to an understanding of unexplained events."I do not know."

"What, not at all?"Rick frowned, "You must have seen lots of storms before."

"Yes I have seen many storms, but not like this one."Ardeth gestured toward the sky."One moment the sky was bright with starts, and the next, darkness covered them and there was lightening… it split the sky as if Allah Himself were angered."He paused, "And then the desert answered as only she knows how.We didn't even have time to see to the horses…"

Rick looked round, panicking slightly when he couldn't see any of the Medjai's proud animals."What you mean we're stuck here?"

"No."Ardeth answered."They will not have gone far.I have sent some of my men to find them while we clear up here."

"Rick…?Ardeth…?"Evie's soft, almost nervous voice interrupted their conversation."What's that?"

**

_So this was what it felt like to be a free spirit… no longer tethered in one place, no longer trapped and condemned to whispering confusion into the hearts of greedy men.But what control did he have?So far – he had discovered, much to his distain – not a great deal.Even the sands that had so easily answered the call of his will lay almost lifeless at his ethereal feet – moving little more than if the wind had run her hand through the grains._

__

_Perhaps he could find another way to interact with the physical?_

__

_Frustration bore anger, and anger hate.That hate had a name, and if it was the last think he were ever to do on this miserable earth he would he would play out his revenge on the one that bore in now…_

**

Meirionnydd ached from head to foot.All the rest of the night she had tossed and turned on the floor of the tent she had been thrown into unceremoniously.At least she was away from the walking nightmare that was the creature she – Anton had assured her –had summoned and was now his to control.The vessel that the power of his dark goddess would inhabit until he could find the other parts of the sistrum and comply fully with Her dark will.

But she wasn't away from all of the nightmares…Her dreams were full of blood and fear and death, and she woke in panic, feeling as though she were losing her mind, with a single image in her head:a blue painted tattoo from the chest of the Medjai in her dream, like the head of a hawk, watched over by opened wings.She had to know if the man really existed, or if he were just a figment of her terrified imagination… some wishful thinking for a saviour of a kind that could get her out of the mess her life had become.

She closed her eyes for a moment and the face swam clearly into focus in the front of her eyes, a strong proud face, that in spite of itself held the promise of something more gentle and expressed humility in the rich brown of the eyes.His expression was one of concern, and almost something deeper than that.

Footsteps coming closer snapped her out of her contemplation.Every muscle in her body tensed, ready to fight if necessary, and she held her breath.But the footsteps passed by her tent and her head swam with relief.After many more long moments she got her legs under her and braved the morning air.

She expected that as soon as she put her head outside of the tent flap she would be stopped by her ever present guards, but was surprised, perhaps a little hopeful that the space outside her doorway was empty.Hope gave way to worry and then hope again as she saw everyone huddled around a table that had been set outside Anton's tent.They seemed engrossed in whatever it was they were looking at and for a moment Meirionnydd wondered if there was some small chance she might finally get away.

The morning sun already beat relentlessly down on the top of her head, reminding her that even if she did manage to get away she had no idea where she might go… that she would probably end up dying out in the desert.

A slight gust of wind blew, and a flash of black fabric blowing in the sudden wind registered in the corner of her eyes.The Medjai!If she could get him free, perhaps she could persuade him to take her with him, to safety…She glanced again in the direction of Anton's tent to make sure they were still busy and then, picking her way as carefully as she could, crossed the campsite toward where the Medjai was still tied to a sturdy post.

"You should not be here," he told her in an accent which stirred other memories, memories she hadn't before registered, memories from her dream."If they find us together they will hurt you."

"They're busy," she told him and moved around behind him to try and work on the knots, to get him loose.She wished she had a knife."How is your arm?"

"Not good." He shook his head.

The knots refused to yield to her fingers alone; she had no choice but to find a knife from somewhere so that she could cut him free.She came from behind him and paused to look at the wound in his arm.He was right, "not good" described what she saw pretty well."That's infected," she told him.

"I know."He licked his lips, and took in a huge breath and she noticed then how ill he was starting to look."Don't waste your chance trying to save me.You should just go."

"Go where?" she asked him, "I'd be dead in five minutes out there."

"Quite right," Meirionnydd froze at the sound of the voice – the woman's voice from the night before.Then she heard the quiet pad of her footsteps."So you shouldn't even think about trying to run away."

"Leave the girl alone!" Meirionnydd shook her head to try and silence the Medjai, to stop him from trying to defend her even now.

"That's what I always loved about the Medjai… so loyal," Meirionnydd was pushed aside and turned fearfully to regard the woman.She looked better than the night before, as though many of the puncture wounds had healed over night – though there were still places where she was still black and swollen."Just like little dogs."

"Why don't you leave him alone!" Meirionnydd suddenly snapped, her fear giving way to anger for long enough to let the words burst from her lips."And who the hell ARE you anyway…?"Even so, she backed up a step when the dark eyes turned in her direction, but the dangerous light in them soon turned to an amused, sarcastic smile.

"That's a good question, little girl.I'm many people… and all of them stronger than before… thanks to you – calling for me with the power of Usert as you did."The hand reached out again to caress her face.Meirionnydd cringed, but held her ground – aware that the Medjai was watching in a way that led her to believe he was willing his strength he had into her small frame."So now I am all of the people I was before…Meela, Anck-Su-Namun." She let her hand drop away from Meirionnydd's face."And sometimes, Usert Herself."

"You are NOTHING like Usert!" Meirionnydd recoiled in surprise from the vehement hatred in the Medjai's voice.

"Fighting talk, Medjai!" the woman said.Then she raised her hand.Meirionnydd thought she would hit the man, and foolishly coiled herself ready to leap at her if she did.She didn't for one moment think she would get the better of the woman, but couldn't stand to see violence against a helpless person.It was an affront to her nature.Instead she signalled to two of the men near Anton's tent.They came to her side instantly, looking suspiciously at Meirionnydd."Cut him down and take him to the girl's tent… and get her something to clean his wounds.He's no good to me dead!"

**

"Evie there's nothing there."Rick walked up behind her and started to gently caress the sides of her arms as he felt the tension in her body.He glanced at Ardeth and noticed the expression of extreme concern on his friend's face as he too stepped forward, raising a hand to shield his eyes from the sun as he looked out into the desert in the direction that Evie had pointed a shaking hand.

"I thought for a moment…" Her voice drifted off into nothing, and she leaned back into Rick's embrace.

Ardeth turned from his own scrutiny of the sands and stepped toward Evie, half reaching out to her.Rick glanced at him and he stopped as though caught doing something he should not."What did you see?"

"I… I thought there was someone out there." Evie raised her hand again pointing out into the desert."A… a… man… watching."

"Evelyn, if this is more visions," Rick started, still watching Ardeth for his reaction to his words, "Then I think maybe you've been out in the sun too long."Then he turned to Ardeth and snapped."And you…I don't know what's going on, but I told Evie, and I'll tell you:We're here on vacation.We are not getting involved this time, so you can stop with your…"

"Then why are you out here?"Ardeth snapped, the irritation in his voice matching Rick's."Why not simply refuse when it was first mentioned in Cairo."When Rick did not immediately answer, he continued."I will tell you.It is because you are already involved, and have been from the moment you ever set foot on Egyptian soil."He reached out and flicked Rick's right arm, near the bracer that he habitually wore, even when at home, to hide the mark on his wrist that brought back painful memories, that even now still haunted his dreams and had him wake in panic on more occasions that he cared to admit."I told you before, you were always destined to protect this woman, it is why you met, and why you married and share her life now.And from the moment Evelyn laid a hand to the Usertim Sayyadina she became involved.Walk away from her now if you must Rick O'Connell – but know that if you do, you prove yourself to be less the man I thought you were – and I will not so soon ignore…"

"You're jealous!" Rick set Evie carefully on her feet to his side, aware that her mouth hung slightly open at the sudden antagonism between him and Ardeth, but ignoring it completely.

"No!"

"You are, you can't stand that I got married and you're still stuck out here defending a load of sand and stones and…"

"Do not!" Ardeth warned, his hand straying toward the hilt of his scimitar.

Rick stepped closer to Ardeth."…long dead…"

"Stop it!"Evie pushed a hand again the chest of each other men.Rick almost pushed her hand away, but something in her touch calmed him, brought him to his senses and he blinked in confusion into the mirror of his own disorientation in Ardeth's eyes. "Stop it both of you!"

"Evie…" Rick started, wanting to tell her about the confusion in his head.Wanting to reassure her that everything was all right…

"No, I mean look at the two of you.What has got into you?"

With a deep breath, Ardeth nodded once to Rick."I have work to do," he said, and started to turn away.

"Don't walk away from this!" Evie called after him, and then turned to Rick to fix him with a meaningful stare.

"Ardeth, wait!" He understood at once her silent appeal to him, and shared her desire to set things right with his friend, but the fact remained that under the rational knowledge that it was ridiculous – the near fight with Ardeth and over his wife – remained the bubbling of suspicion that had sparked his anger in the first place.

"Laa!" Ardeth called back."I must help my men to gather the horses!"

Rick watched in growing unease as his friend walked off in denial with a group of his men, and his wife walked in the other direction to continue with her reading.

**

Rashid looked up as the young woman entered.He tried to school his face to a neutral expression, but what the Witch had told him, as she had him almost tossed into the small tent assaulted every sensibility within him.

"Leave it," he craved as she turned to close the door behind her.

"I thought you might like a little peace for a while," she answered, her voice gentle.

He lay back on the blanket and sighed."Please leave the door.We will have peace enough."She shrugged and came toward him, the door still open, revealing the guards that had been placed.He shook his head slightly, "So even injured they fear the power of the Medjai." He thought.

He looked up again to regard the young woman, to try and see some clue as to the truth or otherwise – he prayed otherwise – of the Witch's words.She was small and lithe, her hair long and dark, reaching almost to the middle of her back.Her eyes, he remembered the kindness in those eyes, a rich expressive brown, there could be little doubt as to her origins to anyone with the sight to look and see the truth.

"Show me your arms," he said.

"I beg your pardon?" kneeling at his side with the bowl of water, the woman almost seemed to recoil at his words, and his heart knotted with fear.

"Please, your arms… show me your arms."Slowly she held out her hands to him.Equally as slowly he closed his fingers around her wrists and, closing his eyes, turned her hands palm up.When he opened his eyes he almost sobbed with relief to find her wrists unmarked and held her hands thankfully, until she pulled them away and he met her eyes and the discomfort in them."Forgive me," he said."Something the Witch Anck-Su-Namun said."

"What?" The girl's voice was fearful."What did she say?"

"She suggested that I was breaking a long held law among my people in being with you.She lied."As if the relief stole his strength also, Rashid almost fell backwards.

"I need to see to your wounds," she said and reached hesitantly for the front of his robes."I think you'll need to help me…I have no idea…" Leaning up again, Rashid reached for the knot in the side of the sash holding his outer robe closed, moving his arm made him grimace in pain, until the woman pushed his hands aside and went to work on the knot herself."What… what's your name?"

"Rashid," he said."And you?"

"Meirionnydd."

"Al salaam a'alaykum, Meirionnydd." His response was automatic, ingrained almost, and on the end of it he winced as she pushed the robe back off his shoulders and disturbed the wound on his arm.

"Sorry… sorry…" she winced herself, and in spite of himself, he chuckled.

"Do not worry," he said, "Though I still say you should have escaped when you had the chance…"He stopped as he saw her running her eyes over his now uncovered chest."What is it?" he asked, wondering if he were as bruised as he felt.

"I'm sorry, I'm prying only…"She faltered.

"Go on?"

"Do all of the Medjai have these marks… these tattoos?"

"We are each of us marked upon swearing our oaths at manhood, though each is individual to the warrior that receives the marks."He frowned, puzzled."Why?Have you seen another of us?"

"I…" Meirionnydd looked away from the symbols on his chest into the slight frown on his face."You'll think me foolish."

"Tell me, that I may decide what I think of you."A look of embarrassment came over her face and to cover it, she picked up the cloth from the water bowl and began to carefully clean the knife wound in his arm.He gritted his teeth against the pain and fought back the nausea.

"Anton, the man that keeps me here, he makes me drink some kind of… potion, I suppose, to try and make me see things."

"Yes?" He prompted as impassively as he could through his own discomfort, watching the way she schooled her face into a neutral expression and concentrated on washing out the gore from his arm.

"Just as I was drifting into a vision one time, a man came into the tent and told Anton that the Medjai had stopped them from taking the tablet… the one that the woman, Meela or whatever she calls herself, is busy translating for him.And when I heard the word, I … I saw a man, like you… with the marks on his face, like lightening, cupped in the curve of a blade.Since then I've seen him again."

"Truly seen, or in a vision?"Rashid was very careful not to look at her face, so as not to interrupt what she was telling him – worried that whatever she might say would be important.

"More like in a dream… one of my nightmares actually."She picked up a piece of gauze and coated it with a brownish liquid."It's like I can't stop the dreams since he made me drink that stuff.It frightens me."

"Tell me what you saw?"

"The head of a hawk… with wings over it…"

Rashid did his best to keep his face impassive.There was only one Medjai that wore that sacred mark, and until he knew more of the woman, however gentle and concerned and honourable she appeared to be, he would not give away the identity of his chieftain.Carefully he asked, "What happened to this man?" 

"You know him?" she looked up at him then – and he met her eyes.

"It could be any one of a number of my brothers," he lied.

"Oh," she sounded disappointed and worried

He was about to change his mind… the concern he heard softening his attitude a little when she pressed the gauze to the wound.Searing heat penetrated his flesh and he hissed and pulled away, voicing vehement curses."Merciful Allah, what IS that?" he demanded when he could once more catch his breath.

"Iodine," she answered."I'm sorry, I should have warned you."She held up the gauze again and nodded toward his arm.With a deep breath he braced himself for the touch of the antiseptic and held himself still while she bandaged the gauze into place and then set about the other wounds on his body and face from the many beatings he had received.

**

Ardeth walked so quickly that the four men with him had to periodically break into a trot to keep up with him.All he knew was that he needed to put as much distance between him and O'Connell as possible while he calmed down, before he said or did something to upset their friendship still further.He knew full well he had overstepped the line by more than a little, but felt that to some degree, what he had said to his friend had been justified, but what bothered him most of all was that O'Connell had been right too.

Jealousy.

It was not an emotion that he was used to dealing with, at least not in himself.Always before, he had been content with his life.He had been so busy ensuring that Hamunaptra stayed undisturbed and Imhotep remained buried that he'd had little time to consider the things that he didn't have in his life.

Perhaps then this feeling came about, as had his disquiet and melancholy, no not melancholy, what was the word that Evelyn had used…?introspection… since the fall of Hamunaptra, Imhotep's entombment at Ahm Shere and the fall of the Scorpion King.Or perhaps it was the way in which the desert was once again speaking to his heart, as if some unseen force were guiding his path… and were showing him a new destiny.

But jealous?That he had no wife to love and protect, no son to whom he could teach the ways of his people and to whom he could bequeath leadership of the Medjai…?

He stopped walking so suddenly that the man behind him almost collided with him.

"My chief?"

"What do you think of Faridah?" he asked absently, his mind still grappling with the second thought of his own mortality in as many days."Do you think I should marry?"

"Marry Faridah?"His companions seemed taken aback.

"Why not?" Ardeth turned his gaze upward from the sand at his feet to look into the eyes of the man beside him."She is attractive, well connected; her sisters have all born many, many fine sons to our warrior brothers…" It sounded hollow even to his own ears and he began to wonder who he was trying to convince.

"She bores you; her brothers would use her marriage to advance their position and gain your ear; she has more concern for herself than any…"

"Sawsan then?" Ardeth frowned in irritation – knowing in his heart that the counsel of his trusted warriors, the men who knew him best of all, was right.

"You would not stay longer than three days with that simpering child before you rode for the nearest ally's harem."One of his men clapped him on the shoulder, chuckling slightly, much to Ardeth's discomfort.He sighed and tried his best to cast of the dour mood that was settling further onto his shoulders.

"You should not take things so to heart," said the oldest of the four of his companions."If this is the result of your meeting with the Usertim woman then I say that the thousands of years we have been forbidden to be near them have been the right course to follow."

"I wonder…" Ardeth mused, but was forced to abandon the subject as a cloud of sand heralded the arrival of another of his men, one he had sent out earlier in search of their mounts.He led many of the horses with him.

"Well done, Hassan."He greeted the newcomer before, as had the others, retrieving his own stallion."The others?"

"A little further to the west, but peaceful enough."

"Take Emir and Nasim with you to retrieve them.We will break camp and begin the journey to Hamunaptra."As if he had reached a decision he grabbed the saddle horn and swung himself up into the saddle, then he tugged on the reins to turn the horse around."We can afford no further delay."

**

_So he DID have power.A subtle satisfied smile appeared on what would have been his face, if he had a solid form, and was not a thing of light and spirit…The amusement lasted only a moment before the pulling he felt reminded him once more that there was somewhere he wanted to be, and that memory brought others._

__

_They had been there then… these two, with whom he now toyed.She had risked everything that she was to save the life of her love.They had watched him betrayed, holding fast to each other amid the chaos – not fighting, as they were now, over the insidious whispers he had breathed into the minds of the men._

__

**

They moved around him as the organised team that they were, shaking sand from the bedrolls and removing all traces that they were ever there at all.It was a drill they learned from young men and like everything else they did, there were no half measures.The normalcy of it helped to steady Ardeth's mind as he crossed to where O'Connell had followed the Medjai's lead and was packing away his and Evelyn's things.Evelyn stood a little away from her husband and he noted the dejected droop of her shoulders and then the tense way O'Connell moved, glancing often at his wife.

Pulling himself up straight, he made a decision.He would not be the cause of his friends' unhappiness.As he reached the space where his friend was shaking out the sand from the canvass of his tent, and struggling slightly to fold it away, Ardeth leaned down to help.

"I can manage." O'Connell growled.

"I have no doubt of it," he answered, "I just thought you might appreciate the help of a friend, not that you needed it."

Both men sighed, and stopped what they were doing, facing each other across the canvass divide."Ardeth, look…"

Ardeth held up his hand and interrupted."I was at fault, O'Connell.I had no right to speak to you as I did.And you were right…I am," he faltered, "jealous, though not in the way you believe."

"But I don't even know why I said that."O'Connell shifted awkwardly back a step or two as he fixed him with a searching look."It was like one minute I was fine and then next I had that crazy notion inside my head…"

"One last thing I will say, my friend," Ardeth glanced around him for a moment, as if weighing the truth of his words."Something is coming that is unsettling everything I have ever believed, that I have known, even the desert itself is not at rest and each of us needs be on our guard or we will be swept along on the winds of something that I believe to be destructive.We have shared much, Rick O'Connell, and I consider you as one of my most trusted friends – a brother.I pray Allah will help us both remember that."

He saw O'Connell nod and knew that he had heard both the things that he had said, and those things to which his words had alluded.He was about to continue with the job of helping to pack away the O'Connell's things when something small, but insistent grabbed him – literally – around the chest.It took him a moment to realise that it was Evelyn, who had wrapped him in a tight, almost desperate hug.Awkwardly he accepted the hug for a moment then glanced questioningly at his friend.O'Connell shrugged, and then, proving to Ardeth more than anything he could have said that he harboured no ill feelings toward him he turned and continued to pick up his scattered equipment, leaving Ardeth to deal with Evelyn.

"Promise me you won't ever fight like that again," she said to his chest.

He carefully extricated his arms from her limpet like grasp, and gently moved her away to arms length."You too must guard against this strangeness, Evelyn," he said quietly, his eyes flickered momentarily down to the front of her blouse, beneath which he knew the bell was hidden."Perhaps you did not understand what I said last night – that I will do all that I can to fulfil my promise to the Usertim and keep that bell safe."

"Not good enough!" Evelyn answered, and he blinked at her in surprise."I won't have you fighting with Rick like that.I need you to promise me that it won't happen again."

Ardeth sighed and closed his eyes.Could he give her that assurance or would it be a lie?How could he without knowing what dangers lay in their path or the effect it might have on them all?"I will try."He said at last and moved past her to go and inform O'Connell of the rest of his plans.

**

Nestled, half dozing, between his three obedient women, Jamaal smiled – sated.As the leader of his tribe, he enjoyed many luxuries and for perhaps the thousandth time since he had assumed leadership of his Tuareg tribe, he sent thanks to his God for his good fortune.

_But how long will it last…?_

His eyes flickered open as the voice breathed itself into his ears – perhaps into his mind for all he knew… languidly he reached out for the breast of one of the women and attempted to soothe himself in reminding himself of all he possessed.

_Send the women away… you have no need of them now._

Images began to float past his soporific mind… gold glittered in the morning sun as it piled around his feet, beautiful, scantily clad girls danced for his amusement and… performed other duties for him in great delight at his pleasure.

_Send them away_

Sleepily Jamaal obeyed, rousing the women and sending them from his company into the harsh morning sun, clutching their robes around them since he did not even give them time to dress.

_Good…The voice seduced __…and I will show you how you might gain all those things I have shown you…all you need do is follow my command, attack one small camp and take one small woman to your side…_

Jamaal listened as the spirit of the desert itself it seemed whispered sweet promises of wealth into his mind – showed him how he might become the greatest leader of the Tuareg even known.Quickly he went to rouse his men – they had quite a ride ahead of them.

**

Shielding his eyes against the brightness of the sun, Ardeth squinted into the distance to the dark speck he could see and held up his hand, uttering one word of command.Behind him, his small band of Warriors came to a halt almost as one being.

"What is it?" O'Connell manoeuvred his horse along side Ardeth.

"I am not sure," Ardeth said, but his senses were screaming at him of the importance of that small speck.He turned to a couple of his men and said quietly."Go for me and discover the truth of what it is.Be careful."

Nodding to their leader the two men rode at a comfortable pace toward the speck in the distance.

"What are we going to do?" Evelyn joined Rick and Ardeth at the front of the group.

"We will take this opportunity to rest the horses, and ourselves," Ardeth answered, and pulled down the covering from his face so that his friends could see his uneasy smile.Already the other Medjai were dismounting, and loosening girth straps on their saddles to allow the horses respite from that tightness around their ribs.

He watched as O'Connell helped Evelyn down from her horse, worrying about his friends, worrying whether he had done the right thing in giving Evelyn the bell to carry – and worrying still further why he had not thought it right to tell O'Connell that she carried it.He sighed, and ran a frustrated hand over his neatly trimmed beard."Never so unbalanced as this," he whispered under his breath."If you tell me something is coming but not what it is, how may I be properly prepared?"He retrieved his water and took several small sips of the warmed fluid.He needed to rest, properly rest, not the fitful sleep his nights had been of late… troubled by images that were not quite dreams.

Shouts from his men returning pulled him from his contemplation and he saw that they were leading a grey gelding that bore the unmistakeable tack of the Medjai.He walked quickly to the horse and checked for the identifying brand.

"This was Asim's horse," he said as O'Connell came to his side.

"One of yours?"

He spent some time explaining to his friend what had transpired before they met, and that he had set two of his men to chase off the men and then stay to guard the tablet."But if his horse is wandering then something may have happened," he finished."I would like you to come with me my friend, but," he paused, "I feel that Evelyn would be safer back in Cairo… at least until we know just who is behind this and their intentions."

"She won't like that," O'Connell warned, but the look in his eyes told Ardeth that his friend was, for once, in total agreement with him.

"I will send some of my men with her to keep her safe," he assured him then walked at his friend's side to where Evelyn was already eyeing them both with suspicion.

"No!" she told them as they reached her side.

"Evie…" O'Connell began in a gentle tone."It really would be better if you were there in Cairo anyway – you could lean on the Curator a bit, get some inform…"

"This is your doing!" Evelyn snapped at Ardeth, moving closer to him, moving right inside his personal space."Sending me away."

"Yes," he said simply, not in the mood to argue and particularly not with a woman, not even Evelyn."I take full responsibility for insisting on your return to Cairo.Hate me for it if you will, but you will return… and if you refuse to get into the saddle I swear I will put you there myself and have you tied to the saddle horn."

"You wouldn't dare!" she snarled.

"Do not be so foolish as to test me," he fixed her with an uncompromising stare.

"Rick…!" she half turned away and appealed with her husband.Ardeth only hoped that O'Connell would back him up, and would not take offence at his being so harsh with his wife.

"Honey, we don't know what we're up against."O'Connell answered, "And until we do I'm with Ardeth on this one.You'd be better in Cairo- you'd be more useful in Cairo.Gathering information is just as important as all the rest of it…"

"Oh," she growled, "I might have known you two would…"

"That's my girl," O'Connell moved forward and gave her a hug, but she pushed him away in irritation.

"All right," she huffed, "I'll go to Cairo." Then to Ardeth she said, "But you ever talk to me like that again and I'll…" she stopped as he raised his eyebrow and nodded toward her horse.

Turning to address three of his men he said, "Go with the woman.Guard her as though she carries my life in her body!"The men got to their feet, looking in puzzled uncertainty between their leader and the Evelyn who was even now mounting her horse.Quickly their readied their horses and mounted.One of them reached for the reins of her horse, and she was forced to cling to the horse's neck as they galloped quickly away.

**

"That was a bit harsh," Rick said as he turned away from watching them disappear into the distance.

"Perhaps," Ardeth agreed. "But I have neither the time nor the energy to argue with your wife.However capable she is, I will not endanger her life with something as unknown as this."

Rick nodded, remembering very clearly the pain of when he had lost her, even for a moment and wanting never to have to feel that again."Would you really have done what you threatened?" he asked the Medjai.

"Make no mistake, O'Connell, when I give my word, I keep it," he answered seriously."Even if you would have tried to stop me."

Rick watched as Ardeth set about preparing his horse for the journey ahead, unsure quite how he felt about what he had just said, and wondering what it was he had told his men to provoke such a reaction from them.The words of his question came out before he could stop them."What did you say to the warriors you sent with her?"

Ardeth, now mounted, turned in the saddle to fix him with a serious look."I said they should guard her as the wife of a Medjai and not as a mere woman."He held Rick's gaze for a moment longer, almost as though daring him to challenge what he'd said before turning forward once more."Yallah!" He called to his men, who at once leaped into the saddle, "Nimshe!"

Certain he was not getting the whole story, but not having time to worry about it Rick mounted his own horse and set off after the swift warriors.

**

The man was almost foaming at the mouth by the time he got back to the camp.He stumbled from his horse weakly calling for Anton until one of the others caught him by the arms and almost bodily carried him there.

"Medjai… the Medjai…!" he stuttered, and released from the support of his companions stumbled to his knees.

"What about the wretched Medjai!" Anton snapped, glancing at the man, but then turning his attention to Anck-Su-Namun who came walking over toward them, distracted from her job of translating the tablet.

"They… they have returned." The answer came weakly from the ground at his feet."They will find their murdered companion and come after us…"

"Oh for heaven sake man, get up!" Anton detested that his underlings were so afraid of that ancient race of warriors.They should have the strength of hatred for them as he had."They're just men, not demons… not supernatural beings… men!And if they come, we will be ready for them."

"Do not be so sure," Anck-Su-Namun's accented voice purred in Anton's ear as she circled round him, trailing one blackened fingernail down his cheek."The Medjai have endured for thousands of years against all the odds.They have power."

"Don't you start!" Anton spat in irritation.

"Oh no, my dear Anton, have no fear… I haven't started yet." She leaned against him, her mouth beside his ear as she whispered, "But believe me, when I do, they will pay for all they have done."She rubbed herself against him, much as a cat to his master and Anton found himself becoming lost in her intoxicating presence."Bring the bell, and meet me in the girl's tent at sundown.Then I'll start – and I promise I won't stop until every one of those miserable bastards is cursed and in the ground."

**

Frustrated by the need for caution when he could clearly see one of his men lying on the ground, stained brown around him, Ardeth signalled to his five remaining men to separate and search the area.The canyon was a perfect bottle neck for killing, and he couldn't risk that there might be snipers up in the rocks.He waited a moment before making a cautious approach, with O'Connell at his side, each man covering the other.

Eventually they got to the fallen man's side and he crouched down to see if the man was alive.As he gently pulled down the covering from the man's face he stirred and opened his eyes.

"Asim," he said gently, and pressed against the man's shoulder when he tried to sit up."Try not to move."

"Rashid…" Asim gasped.Ardeth shook his head."He must have followed them."

"Do not worry about Rashid.We will find him," he answered, and started to carefully examine his fallen companion.It very quickly became evident that it was a miracle even now that the man was still alive.Sorrow flooded Ardeth's heart, Asim was a good man… another good man he was about to lose."You have done well.You were always one of my bravest and best warriors," he said quietly to Asim, though also clearly as though expecting others to hear.

Asim looked up at him, understanding entering his eye and he nodded, holding back his moan of pain and accepting Ardeth's embrace as his breathing grew more and more laboured.

"It is time, Asim," Ardeth's voice was quiet and gentle as he took the man into a brotherly embrace, knowing that there was no was he could be healed, and understanding the pain he must be suffering.He listened while Asim uttered his final words."Sleep now, my brother," he said, and swiftly, cleanly snapped the dying man's neck.

He stayed very still for a moment, breathing deeply and then laid the fallen Medjai back onto the earth and closed Asim's eyes.As the others returned, he stood and turned to face them. "Truly, to Allah we belong and truly, to Him we shall return," he said quietly.His words were echoed to a man.

"What now?" O'Connell asked after he had moved away from the body of his fallen warrior.

"Two of my men will return with his body to our settlement, so that he can be given a decent burial," he answered, "And we must return to Cairo, to see if Evelyn has discovered anything."He broke off as a call came from one of his men over by the space where the tablet used to be.He and O'Connell went swiftly over to him.

"There is something inside."The man gestured to a darkened hole, twice the size of a man's hand, left uncovered by the missing slab of rock.

"How could they have missed that?" O'Connell asked incredulously.

"Perhaps they were only told to retrieve the carving," he answered and glanced at O'Connell.Both men looked at the darker shape inside and Ardeth couldn't help wondering just how safe it would be to recover the item.Either way he was not about to put his arm into a hole that could be inhabited by snakes or scorpions, or other poisonous creatures.Instructing the others to stand back, he drew his scimitar and gingerly used it as a tool, inserting it behind the object to scrape it forward…

**

Jonathan put down his tools and wiped the back of his hand over his forehead, breathing hard.Something wasn't right.Something about the shape of the place assaulted his every sense as the Egyptologist he fancied himself.

They had spent the better part of the day clearing away the rubble from what was a fairly unremarkable small shrine, apparently to the god Osiris, but the outer dimensions of the rock into which it was set were much larger than the inner ones.Of course it could just be that the ancient Egyptians got fed up with chiselling out the shrine from the hard rock that formed it, (he was certainly fed up with digging out the fallen hard rock to uncover the shrine itself), but he had a feeling… and his feelings were very seldom wrong.

He glanced around the walls flickering in the torchlight and made out the legend of Osiris being raised from the dead in order that his loving wife could have their child, Horus, who would then save everyone else from the evil tyranny that was incarnate in his jealous brother Set.He snorted at the irony of it… even way back then they were worrying about saving the world from evil."Does nothing ever change around here?" he asked aloud, startled at the sound of his own voice among the otherwise regular tick, tick, tick, of picks on stone.

Not watching where he was going, he half tripped and stubbed his toe on a large piece of rock beside one of the uncovered walls.He swore and then sat on the rock to pull off his boot and cradle his injured toe in his hands, and then he noticed that where the rock had pressed against the wall, a piece of the marble had broken away, and behind was a darker space… like a hole.

His injured foot quickly forgotten, he pulled on his boot and stood up to start heaving against the stone.When it refused to yield, he took up his pick and set about swinging it with all his might against the lump of rock that was in his way.There was nothing like the strength of a man kept from the potential of treasure by a lump of rock and before very long at all he was able to heave aside enough of the stone that the broken section of marble fell away to the floor, to indeed reveal a cavity in the stone.

He grabbed a torch from the wall and knelt down, trying hard to see into the dark space.He could make out that there was something inside, but not what."Oh god, why is nothing ever easy!" he said, and gingerly reached out a hand.He pulled it back quickly when he heard a scuttling sound, thinking of all the kinds of insects it could be, and settling on one particularly unpleasant memory, of being held by a particularly strong Medjai while his brother in law dug the scarab out from under his skin with a horribly sharp knife.He shuddered, but lured by the promise of what might be hidden in such a hole as that, reached out again… carefully putting the tips of his fingers inside the hole.He closed his eyes, squeezed them shut tightly expecting the pain any moment of fangs or stinger as it plunged into his hand.After several heart-stopping moments of waiting nothing had happened so he pressed his hand further into the hole and encountered the object with his fingertips.

It was smooth, and cold, but felt like it had many indentations.His heart raced… it could be gold, something made of gold or precious jewels.Well that would certainly make up for the humiliation of having to work off this debt.He closed his fingers around the object and began to withdraw it.

Pain blossomed through his finger and with a cry he fell back, though not letting go of his prize, pulling his hand from the hole.Terrified he dropped the object into his lap and grabbed his hand in the other, moaning a low almost girly scream and examining the wound either side of his hand.His heart raced as he saw the blood, and he thought he would probably pass out any second… but something made him stop and look again, this time properly.They were cuts, not bites or puncture wounds.He pulled his handkerchief from his pocket and wound it up a little, before tossing it into the whole, his precious prize momentarily forgotten in the wake of self preservation.He kept hold of one end and slowly pulled it out again, hearing it tear on something inside the whole."Well I'll be…" he said, and then once more reached his hand into the hole, this time carefully feeling for whatever it was that had cut him.

Two blades, cleverly embedded at an angle that allowed a hand to be inserted without harm, but would slice along the flesh as it was withdrawn… like the principle of the barb on a hunting knife, or arrow."Well whatever it is, it must be important to be protected like that," he mused and once more turned his attention to the object he's pulled from the hole, absently tying the ripped handkerchief around his bloodied hand.

It looked like one of those charms that Ardeth and his lot wore around their necks – though it was made of gold unlike their own – and it was thicker too, and covered in hieroglyphics.He found a small switch on the bottom of it, and holding it gingerly, pressed the switch.

More pain stabbed into his palm, and he dropped the object, examining the star shaped cut that suddenly appeared on his hand.As he looked beyond his hand to the golden object on the ground he saw the pattern mirrored by small blade like protuberances that had sprung from the back of it."That looks like a key," he said to himself as he picked up the object."Or at least part of one," he added, as he looked at the front of the object and saw the depression in front in line with the barbs on the back.

He found and pressed the button again, closing the key into the charm like object, meaning to start to read the hieroglyphics that might give him a clue, but was forced to pocket the object as he heard the voice of his "boss" coming into the chamber.

"Look as though you've been in the wars," Marshall commented as Jonathan carefully turned so that his leg hid the whole and his foot was on the broken bit of marble from the wall.

"What?" he asked innocently, then realising that Marshall was talking about his hand he raised it and added, "Oh this… yes, I tripped and caught myself on the pointy bit of the pick.Frightfully clumsy of me I must say."

"Well we're about to call it a day if you want to come join us.One more day and I'd say we were all square."

"Oh right.Yes.Thank you I'll be out in a minute.Just got to…" he took up the pick and pointed it at what was left of the rock."… to erm… finish up this little bit.Can't stand to leave a job half finished."

Marshall shrugged. "Well if you're sure," he said and turned to go out."Say, Carnahan… what do you say to a little return game…?"

"Oh erm… I don't think so…" Jonathan said, pressing his arm against the pocket into which he had slipped the key."I should be getting back to my sister as soon as I can – she'll be worrying about me."

"Whatever you say," Marshall laughed and then was gone.Now he came to mention it, getting back to Evie was actually quite a good idea. She could help him with the hieroglyphics on the key.

**

It fell to the sand covered rock with a dull thud, a narrow cylinder, covered with hieratic carvings, and topped with stylised sparrow-hawks facing either direction, their feathers made of teardrop jewels in Lapis Lazuli and Jade.It reminded Rick of the handle of a cork-screw.He caught Ardeth's eye, and saw the Medjai shrug, and then lean down, scimitar still in hand to pick up the small object.

As soon as the flesh of his fingers closed around it, the scuttling of chitinous feet could be heard mere seconds before thousands of black shapes swarmed from the hole.Rick barely had time to shout a warning to Ardeth before the spiders, for such they were, all massed in one spot and started climbing on one another and building a shape… the shape of a towering man-like creature, hawk headed and armed with a wicked looking blade – made also of living spiders.

"Get out of here, go!" Ardeth shouted to Rick, drawing his second blade from his belt.Rick refused to move, pulling pistols from his belt and firing into the massing spiders.But as fast as he could blast them from their place they climbed back into it, and soon he and Ardeth were trapped in their place by the fearsome creature.

The rest of the Medjai started to the aid of their chief, knowing they could not use their rifles for fear of hitting Ardeth they each drew their own scimitars.

"Laa," Ardeth snapped off at them, and something else that Rick didn't recognise or understand."Ibqa huna!" He'd heard Ardeth say no enough times – often to him or Evie that he understood that word at once, but the others…The Medjai Company halted, but did not put up their weapons."Hafud ala sadiqi min ay khatar!"

The creature came forward swinging it's blade for Rick's head, Rick ducked, and Ardeth swung his scimitar up in an arc to catch the downward swing."I said go!" he yelled at Rick."You are unarmed.Your guns are no use against the creature," and all the time both arms worked in controlled, well practiced swings, keeping the creature's weapon at bay and giving Rick an avenue of escape as he slowly had the monster giving ground.Rick had no choice.He rolled aside and instantly found himself pulled to safety by one of the other Medjai.

**

Ardeth dodged to the side as a particularly hard swift strike punched through his guard and sliced his shoulder, though not as badly as it would have done.He replied with a rapid attack low on the creature's body, trying to force the strikes down, where he could better cope with parrying them, but the creature must have sensed what he was trying to do, and circling around his guard came in high, a descending blow that had only one defence.

With all the strength he could muster, he brought his blade up, both of them crossed to catch the heavy descending blow.His arms ached as the shock travelled through them and he thought his shoulders would pop from the sockets as he strained to hold back the blade, hoping that the creature had no other weapon or mode of attack.

A black clawed hand came in under his raised arms and grabbed him by the front of the robe, pulling him off balance, breaking his strength and letting the creature's sword through to come to rest against his neck. Caught between the creature, the rock and the blade there was nothing he could do.

"Ardeth!" he heard O'Connell cry out for him, but did not fear for his friend.He knew him men would keep him from doing anything foolish.Accepting of his fate, he closed his eyes and whispered prayers to Allah and waited for the bite of the blade… holding his breath.

Nothing happened.

Slowly, one at a time, he opened his eyes to find the creature looking down at him.Where it had grabbed his robe it had torn to reveal one of the marks on his chest and the creature was leaning nearer to examine it more closely.Ardeth froze, fighting the urge to shudder as the creature's skin seemed to undulate with the movement of the many small spiders that made up its body.

"Medjai!"The creature screamed and then exploded in a shower of black legs and bodies.Everyone standing close enough was showered by the crawling creatures and all of them shook themselves vigorously to rid themselves of the creeping arachnids.

"You know," O'Connell came up and knocked one of the spiders that Ardeth had missed off the shoulder of his robes as the not-quite-so-composed Medjai stomped on a few more spiders running across the sandy floor at his feet."This would be all be so much easier if all of the nasties that we met had that kind or reaction to you guys."

With a sour look, and shaking himself one last time, Ardeth leaned down to once more pick up the object that had begun it all.Everyone tensed, but this time nothing happened.Ardeth held the object out to O'Connell as his friend peered over the top of his arm to look at the markings around the barrel of the thing."Hieratic," he said.

"We should take that back to Evie," his friend said cautiously."She can translate that, and it may give us some answers."


	5. For Your Protection

Power Is 5

Chapter 5 

Meirionnydd looked up nervously as they entered the tent, afraid that they'd come for her.She backed away slightly and almost tripped over Rashid, who reached up his uninjured arm in reflex, to steady her.She looked at him, and his eyes told her that he would do what he could for her.

Touched by his concern for her she said, "It's all right."She shook her head to try and stop him from getting up.They were interrupted by harsh mocking laughter.

"You know… if you kiss him he'd probably follow you to your grave, little girl," Anck-Su-Namun had squeezed through the doorway to stand between the two men that had first entered.She gave one final laugh and then started making little yapping sounds, like a dog, mocking the Medjai's loyalty.

Anger flared in Meirionnydd and she clenched her fists by her side, her legs coiling without her even giving it any conscious thought.If she had she would have known it more than dangerous to jump at the woman as she intended.A light touch on the back of her right wrist startled her, but also dissipated her anger.

"Do not."She looked down and met Rashid's eyes, nodding in understanding.

"Bring him outside," Anck-Su-Namun sneered."Let's see how much of that Medjai strength of his he still has."

"What are you going to do to him?"Meirionnydd couldn't help but ask the question.He was already hurt and she didn't want to see him hurting more.He was Medjai, and somehow that meant something important, especially since Anton seemed to hate them so much. A phrase came into her mind, a cliché that she had often read in books._The enemy of my enemy is my friend._

"You'll see."Anck-Su-Namun nodded toward Meirionnydd, who in spite of her continued bravado, backed off another step."Bring the girl as well."

**

Rashid tried to keep his eyes on Meirionnydd as long as he could, to make sure they didn't hurt her.She had helped him – probably even saved his life, though there was no telling for how long it would last, but more importantly, she knew something about Ardeth… she was dreaming about him.That alone sparked more loyalty in him for the girl than would a million kisses as the Witch had said… well maybe not a million, but…

"Give it to me!" Anck-Su-Namun said to Anton as he joined them all outside the tent.He watched as the deadly, but beautiful woman snatched a small gold disc shaped bell out of Anton's hand.He saw her face fall in disappointment."This is not the same one!"

"Did you think I was that stupid?" The man hissed in her direction."It has power as do they all.You know that… you can use it for your purpose."

Rashid had no more chance to contemplate what Meirionnydd's dreams might mean for his chief, because, scowling deeply, the Witch came near to him.Every muscle tensed and he pulled against the restraining grasp of the two men holding him.But they were strong and injured he had no chance to break free.

His flesh crawled as she grasped his chin in her hand and held up the small gold disc in front of his face.He thought for a moment that he heard a high pitched, melodic ringing sound from the bell she held, but dismissed it with a level of suspicion that had him close his eyes.

"Oh no you don't," Anck-Su-Namun snapped and squeezed harder against his chin.He accepted the pain, even welcomed it."Medjai, you really don't know how very glad I am you defy me."The tone in her voice and the pricking of his warriors senses screamed danger, but still he knew that if he opened his eyes, he would have a battle to fight greater than ever before.He knew also that it was a battle that he would not necessarily win."I could always take it out on the girl,"

At the mention of Meirionnydd, his eyes flew open.He knew this was what Anck-Su-Namun had intended, but he could not, and would not allow his cowardice to harm the girl in any way."If you harm her, I will kill you," he growled.

"Of course you would." Anck-Su-Namun answered, with more than a hint of sarcasm."If I gave the opportunity that is…"She shook the bell in her hand and this time Rashid definitely heard its melodic tones."But I have no intention of doing that.None.At.All."

He tensed still further and increased his struggles, and from the corner of his eyes he could see that Meirionnydd too was struggling against her own captor, as Anton held her firmly.He wanted to tell her to stop.That he was not worthy of her concern.He wished he had told her about Ardeth.In that moment it seemed the only thing that really mattered.

"Har Usert…" The witch before him began to speak in low tones, speaking the ancient language.A shudder went through his spine, and this time when the bell sounded, in his ears it began to seem discordant, and he felt something… something unpleasant, like lethargy begin to creep over him as the sound continued.It mingled with the sound of the witch's voice and writhed over him like serpents.It was so tangible, this evil she was working on him that he could almost see it.Almost afraid, he began whispering rapid prayers of his own, calling upon Allah's mercy and protection for his soul.

"He cannot help you now," the serpent's voice slithered into his ear."Give me what I want… surrender to me and serve me…"

"Go to hell!" he spat, drawing on his Medjai resolve to fight the creeping insinuation that was fast becoming all that he could see… all that he could feel.

"I've already been," Anck-Su-Namun stepped closer and put an almost gentle hand on his brow.He pulled his head away as though her touch scalded him."Would you like to see?"

Her hand came forward again, to rest against his forehead.The sounds in his ears got louder, increased until they were almost deafening.Sounds of torment, screams of pain and grief replaced the sound of the bell.He tightened his jaw, trying to block out the sounds with his will, to think of more pleasant things; of riding with fellow warriors; the gentle touch of his wife's hand; his son's first step or his baby daughter's first smile, anything to keep the sounds from forming horrible images in his mind.

**

Evelyn paced back and forth across her bedroom carpet.They had been back in Cairo for only two hours and already she was starting to feel like a prisoner in her own home.She went back to the door of her room and flung it open.The Medjai either side of her door instantly came alert.

"You must rest." One told her, his voice heavily accented showing that he did not often get to practise his use of the English language.

"I don't need to rest," Evie snapped in annoyance, glancing over toward the other, silent Medjai guardian.The third she knew was patrolling the grounds of the house. "I need to get out of here and go and find out what the curator knows."

"Tomorrow," the Medjai answered, and as if to underline his point, he and his companion stepped closer together to block the doorway."Now, you must rest."

"Look, Tarek," Evie tried appealing to his better nature, if he had one, she thought sourly."I know Ardeth told you to look after me, but…"

"Nahou lan yousamehouna abadan itha hadath ayo shay'oun lak."The soft spoken Arabic from the second Medjai broke her stride and she turned her head to look at the speaker.She couldn't remember his name, though she had been told.Nor did she recall him ever speaking to her before.She hadn't got a clue what he was saying now, even after all the time she spent in Egypt her Arabic was pretty grim, but the expression he wore when she looked on him was almost fearful.

"What?" she queried Tarek."What did he say?"

"Please, my Lady, go inside and rest."Tarek shook his head, the expression on his face a knowing one.Evelyn suddenly felt very confused and wondered just what was going on that she has missed.Whatever it was, she did not feel comfortable, and when she got her hands on Ardeth Bay… "You must now… care for health.It is important.We will keep you safe and tomorrow we will visit the museum.Go… rest…"He didn't even wait for her answer, just reached out and took the doorknob from her hand and pulled the door closed, giving her a gentle push back into the room as he did so.

Evie stood spluttering for a full five minutes before she resumed her pacing."Who the hell does he think he is?" She swung round and walked in the opposite direction, talking rapidly and aloud, and trying to make sense of the overbearing protection she was getting from the Medjai. "He nearly fought with Rick.He got seriously philosophical.Now he sends me… _sends me no less, back here with three of his men who are virtually treating me like some kind of…"she stopped, and felt all the colour draining out of her face, but it didn't stop there.Colour, resolve, anger and strength began to drain away as though she had a hole in the bottom of her foot."Tarek," she called.Though she didn't think he could possibly have heard the squeak that came from her mouth, the stocky Medjai warrior was at her side in an instant and caught her as she started to crumple._

She didn't actually lose consciousness and so felt him carry her to her bed and place her down gently.She felt oddly uncomfortable with the fact of him unfastening the top button of her blouse, and her pant button even though she knew why he had.And then she felt the kiss of the cool cloth that the other silent Medjai handed to him, for him to place on her forehead.

"Forgive me, my Lady," Tarek craved."We rode too hard, for too long.But we wished to reach your home as quickly as possible."

"My name is Evelyn, or if you can't manage to be that informal, please call me Mrs O'Connell," she saw Tarek frown and for a reason she couldn't quite grasp, felt her stomach turn over in trepidation at provoking such a reaction from him.

"Rest," he told her firmly, and started to get up from the side of the bed.She put a hand onto his arm and asked the question that had been bothering her all day.

"Tarek, what did Ardeth say to you, when he sent you here with me I mean."She swallowed hard, when the Medjai's eyes flickered over her body.

"I think… you know," he answered.

**

She couldn't see for the tears in her eyes.She'd been forcing them out of her eyes the whole of the afternoon.She had seen him slapped, beaten… anything to break his strength.She had been forced to witness the expression of anguish on his face as Anck-Su-Namun mentally tortured him, to try and break through the barriers he had so obviously erected around his mind.

She admired him for that and found herself wondering if it were just him, or whether all the Medjai were as strong mentally as well as physically.Perhaps it was a warrior thing.

A small sob escaped her as she looked at him again. He was on his knees now, lowered there by the men supporting him when his legs gave out from under him, but still they held him upright.His face was drawn and there were beads of perspiration on his brow – evidence of the battle raging inside him, between him and the creature in front of him.His eyes, though open and haunted, still held that bright spark that told her somehow he would fight the control that Anck-Su-Namun was trying to force on him.

As a horrible reminder of what they were about to do, the vile woman standing in front of the courageous Medjai sliced the knot that held his robe closed over his chest and pushed it open."One last chance, Medjai… you can save yourself so much pain!"

He gasped something, no doubt some kind of curse, to her in Arabic. He had long since abandoned his use of English. Then his eyes widened and grew full of fear as he saw, as did she, the man approaching with the glowing branding iron.

"Please," she whimpered at Anton."I don't want to be here."

"You're staying."

"I don't need to see this."He voice warbled, the tears starting to fall."Please don't hurt him any more."

"Good God, don't tell me you've developed feelings for this animal!"

"He's NOT an animal!" Meirionnydd cried in anguish."He's a decent human being and here you are about to mark him like…"

Anck-Su-Namun turned toward her and flashed an evil smile in her direction."I'm about to do far more than just mark him little girl," she said."I'm about to break him."She took the iron from Anton's man and held it for a moment in front of the exhausted Medjai.He struggled weakly, but ultimately could do nothing but watch as the red hot metal came closer and closer to his chest.

Meirionnydd was sure that as long as she lived, she would never forget the sound of his scream as the iron seared into the skin of his chest.She retched as the smell of burned flesh washed over her and tried to turn her head aside, so that should wouldn't have to watch the sheer agony sweep over him, but Anton held her head and turned her face back toward the tortured man.She wanted to close her eyes, but at the last moment, he opened his and met her eyes.The look was one of defeated apology.

"Now, Medjai…." Anck-Su-Namun interrupted their silent communication.She shook the bell once more, and its high sound split the air filled only with Rashid's laboured breathing."Listen very carefully…"she spoke in the same low undertones in ancient Egyptian, leaning close to Rashid as she did, running her fingers over the area of his chestwhere she had burned away the tattoos.

_I'm about to do far more than just mark him little girl, I'm about to break him._

The horrible truth dawned on Meirionnydd just as the spark died in Rashid's apologetic eyes and they darkened to become merely cold, calculating orbs.He shrugged his shoulders and pulled his arms from the men restraining him and climbed weakly to his feet.

"Mi Pharos," he bowed to Anck-Su-Namun.Somehow, burning away the marks on his chest had weakened his resolve, his protection, enough for the creature that was Anck-Su-Namun to win over control of his soul.

"Kill the girl."To prove her point Anck-Su-Namun handed him a dagger and stood aside to let him pass.

Meirionnydd trembled in Anton's arms as he stalked toward her."Rashid, no," she tried to reach him."La, Rashid, Kkeff!" she used up her limited knowledge of Arabic in trying to get him to stop.Still he came on and once he was close enough raised the knife to her throat Meirionnydd closed her eyes.

"Stop!"At the sound of her voice he froze; the knife but a breath away from slicing her throat."Now you bark for me… little dog!"

Meirionnydd opened her eyes and reached up a shaking hand to his face to touch the tattoos on his cheeks."Rashid," she whispered."You're better than this.This is not who you are.Fight her."

He slapped her hand away, and then he slapped her face.She fell against Anton, sobbing in defeat… his defeat.

**

Jonathan woke with a start and cursed his rotten luck.He hadn't meant to fall asleep, but all the physical hard work he had been doing had taken its toll.He knew what he was about to do was incredibly stupid, and if he ever got caught he would probably wind up in Cairo Prison, but for some reason he couldn't explain, he just KNEW he had to get to Evie with the artefact he'd found earlier in the day.

He sat up slowly and looked around the camp.It was quiet, only the lone sentry keeping watch over the boundaries of the dig.He pulled the note from his pocket again and hoped it would be enough to keep him out of trouble.Hoped that Marshall's sense of greed might stop him from coming after him… after all, if what he said in the note was true…

_Marshall__,_

_I think you are on to something bigger than you realise with this small dig of yours and have gone for help.No don't get mad, Evie's a sweet girl and very good about these kind of things.Be back as soon as we can._

_Jonathan._

__

He picked up a rock and put it on top of the note which he placed on his bedroll.Then he crept as quietly as he could toward where the horses were kept.Praying to every god he knew, and a few that he didn't, he carefully saddled one of the horses, shushing it every time it whinnied and then picking up his small rucksack which contained little else than the water he would need for the journey and a blanket to keep him warm against the desert nights, he led the horse out into the darkness.

Only when he was sure that he wouldn't be heard did he mount the horse and set a brisk pace off in the direction of where he hoped Cairo would eventually turn out to be.It wouldn't do him any good getting lost.

He rode the horse at the brisk but gentle pace for a while, and then more quickly, wanting to put as much distance between him and Marshall as he could.Soon though he had to slow down.He couldn't take the risk of the horse going lame, or even of him falling asleep and ending up wandering into some local skirmish.Although he was exhausted, he fought to keep wake and began to idly wonder if he might accidentally bump into any of the Medjai on his way back to Cairo.

Many hours later, as the sun rose over the Saharan dunes, to keep himself from falling asleep in the saddle, Jonathan took out the necklace he had found in the compartment at the dig and gave it a proper look over.

The links of the chain were large, well formed and joined to the triangular body of the thickened charm like key at two of the corners.Serpents wound their way around the edge of the small box like charm, their backs covered in hieroglyphics, and to keep his mind alert, Jonathan began looking for one in particular – a bird, a stork.

"Aah, there you are," he said, locating the symbol."I knew you had to be here somewhere."Good old Ahmenaphus."

_Aaaah-menaph-uuuuuuus_

Jonathan shivered.Was he hearing things?Well when he thought about it, the desert was rapidly turning flat around him as the sun rose higher in the sky.He looked around, to try and find somewhere he might shelter from the sun, hobble his horse and get a bit of a nap.

**

_Breathless… she was breathless from fighting._

__

_"You are getting better, Nefertiri.I shall have to watch my back." Anck-Su-Namun leaned over her, looking coldly into her eyes._

__

_"Yes," she answered, still trying to get her breathing under control and to ignore the burning from the side of her head where she knew he was watching.She felt suddenly ashamed of having lost."And I shall watch mine."_

__

_With a viper-like smile Anck-Su-Namun hauled her to her feet just as her father started clapping and praising the two women with loud cries of "Bravo."To her shame she didn't really pay much attention to what he was saying as he came to embrace her.Her attention was fixed on Anck-Su-Namun and the little drama playing out there._

__

_Imhotep walked past Anck-Su-Namun.His eyes sought and found hers and their gazes locked.They watched each other.Imhotep wore a superior smile.Why couldn't anyone else see it! Her mind screamed at her that it was obvious, that there was something between Imhotep and her father's concubine; something forbidden._

__

_Then she felt a gaze on her own face and looked away from Anck-Su-Namun and Imhotep to find the Medjai's gaze.His eyes – brown eyes – bore into hers, as though he was seeking to take the things she saw, the things she was thinking right out of her mind.As her father released her from his embrace she shook her head almost imperceptibly.Her heart was still racing, though now not from exertion…_

The scene dissolved and Evie turned in her sleep, moaning slightly and pressing her hand to her heart as though it hurt.A small sob escaped her lips and she curled up around herself.She curled into a little ball, her arms wrapped around her body as though she were trying to protect herself from something dreadful.

_She tried to behave as though she belonged there; as though she was at peace, but the truth was, she was not.She ached… hear heart ached and more than ever before she felt sick, sick to her stomach._

__

_"My Princess?"Imhotep appeared behind her, startling her.He was just straightening from his low bow as she turned to face him.He had his priests behind him; four of them… all still leaned over their eyes turned downward._

__

_"Lord Imhotep," she said, her voice shaking slightly because of the way her heart hammered in her chest and her stomach churned."I wish to speak with you privately."_

__

_His eyes locked with hers… amusement.She could see amusement in his eyes and his face held that same supercilious smile he always wore.She felt as though he already knew what she was going to ask._

__

_"Leave us," he commanded, and flicked his hands at his sides.The four priests rose as one and padded silently from the temple.Imhotep swept his arm toward a doorway that led to his private chambers, and fearfully she preceded him in.She turned to him as he closed the door behind him.He was still smiling._

__

_"Imhotep…" she licked her lips, both to moisten them, and to fight back the increase in nausea at that moment."I need your help."_

Evie drew a shuddering breath and woke with a start, clutching at her nightdress as if to pull something revolting from her body.Nausea, perhaps left over from the dream, crept up her body to where her hand pawed at the neckline of her nightdress and for several moments she had to sit, torn between breathing deeply and racing for the bathroom.She chose the former and as her heart rate slowed, the nausea began to fade.

The memory, however, was a different matter._Imhotep, I need your help_

**

Riding into Cairo in the middle of four Medjai warriors, for the first time in a long while, Rick felt a little self conscious.Heads turned and the stares of many eyes touched his body before the whispers even reached his ears.He kicked his horse forward and drew level with Ardeth.

"Doesn't it ever bother you?" he asked.

"What?"Ardeth turned his veiled face so that his friend could see his eyes.

"The staring, the fearful whispers?"Ardeth shrugged and turned forward again."I take it that's no?" Rick asked.

"It has never been otherwise." His voice was steady."So it is normal."Rick watched him for many moments, he couldn't see much more than his friend's eyes, but they seemed to show that he was considering the conversation in more depth."The day those stares and whispers come no more," Ardeth looked him full in the face."That will be the day the Medjai will fail in their sacred duties, for our presence will carry no more weight."

They arrived at the house, and for a time had to concentrate on mundane task of securing the horses and making their way inside.Rick let Ardeth's words play around inside his head.He was talking about the power of the Medjai's reputation to deter most of the treasure seekers from making expeditions out into the desert.He jogged a few steps to once more bring him level with the striding Medjai as they entered the house and took the stairs almost two at a time.

"Yeah, but it's not just your reputation that keeps you in a job." He voiced his thoughts in a clumsy way and winced as Ardeth stopped on the stairs and turned to face him.Behind the two of them Ardeth's men also stopped, and the lack of the sudden rattling of metal against metal told Rick that to a man they probably had their hands on the hilt of their blades.Rick sighed.He had almost forgotten how temperamental the Medjai were when it came to discussions of their heritage.It was only then that his friend took the time to unfasten the veil and let it fall from his face.

"Being Medjai is not merely a job, Rick O'Connell.I thought you understood that."Ardeth paused in his speech and waved a hand in the direction of the men standing behind him.Rick felt, rather than heard them leave."It is a sacred duty.One to which a man is born.Never once did I suggest that the Medjai rely on our reputation alone to keep the treasures of the Ancients safe from those who do not truly understand their beauty and the nature of their power, though I will admit it prevents many from seeking to obtain that wealth and so reduces the number of battles we must fight in the course of our lifetime."Rick felt Ardeth's hand come down on his shoulder as they began to mount the rest of the stairs."But with reputation comes responsibility, my friend, and it is that responsibility I must accept… with every life I take; with those I spare…" he raised his eyebrow and Rick realised that he was talking about him and Evie, "…and with the decisions I make in my leadership of the twelve tribes, it is my responsibility that helps maintain the reputation… and it is the reputation that helps the Medjai keep watch over those who need our protection."

Rick was impressed.Ardeth never ceased to amaze him with the depth of though and feeling that the oh-so-often impassive appearance kept hidden.He wondered for a second how it was that Ardeth looked so young, with the weight of all that hanging on his shoulders, and even knowing it was in poor taste at that moment, ever the joker he said, "Ardeth, old buddy, do me a favour would you?Lighten up a little."

"You asked."Ardeth flashed him a grin that conveyed that he understood his words had been heard as they reached the door to the library where Evie was resting.Ardeth stopped to speak quietly to his men at the door while Rick went inside.

"Rick!" Evie ran at him and wrapped herself around him.Delighted surprise turned to concern as she continued to cling to him.

"Evie?" he asked, easing her back to arm's length.

"I just… I worried about you."She told him, turning away and moving back into the library.

"I'm okay," he said, following a couple of steps behind."You might know I'd be safe with Ardeth."He paused growing more uneasy by the second. "Honey, if there was something wrong, you'd tell me, right?"

"Of course I would, darling." She turned back to him, smiling, but the smile didn't reach her eyes.

"Evie," he said in a warning tone, stepping closer and taking her by the arms.He would have said more, words to tell her that he knew there was something going on… something that involved her and Ardeth and from which he was deliberately being kept, but at that moment Ardeth strode in to come and stand beside the two of them.

"Mahmoud has said you did not sleep peacefully; that you had a nightmare," he said.

Rick looked between the two of them; watched Evie falter and then crumble under the unwavering stare of the Medjai chieftain."All right!" he snapped, "That's it!"He let go of Evie, walked away and then spun round to face the two of them."One of the two of you is going to tell me what's going on or so help me I'll…"

"I had a dream about Imhotep." Evie said quietly."About Nefertiri and Imhotep."

Rick watched in disbelief as Ardeth took Evie by the elbows and turned her slightly in his direction.She gasped in surprise and leaned away slightly as he bent down to speak to her."Tell me about this dream, Evelyn."

With an awful feeling of déjà vu, but still unable to help himself, Rick crossed to him in one stride and pushed Ardeth away from Evie.She stumbled as Ardeth suddenly released her, but that couldn't be helped."You keep your hands off my wife, and tell me what the hell is going on right now!" he said angrily.

"I meant no disrespect."Ardeth said quietly, easing himself out of Rick's grasp."I have spoken to you before about the fine line between fate and coincidence, my friend."Rick folded his arms across his chest as he began to listen to Ardeth's explanation."And it is my belief that it was no coincidence that it was to Evelyn that the Sayyadina of the Usertim first came.Even though it has been forbidden for thousands of years, she asked Evelyn to send for the Medjai and since the time of my meeting with the Sayyadina there have been many things… things that are out of place… that have been happening.You are my friend, a brother to me, and yet here are the two of us, fighting.There are strange storms in the desert; the resting places of the ancients are once again being disturbed by men that have no hesitation in killing we that are set as the guardians of such places and now Evelyn dreams."

"Imhotep isn't coming back!" Rick could have screamed at the Medjai in frustration."You can trust me on this one.The woman he loved betrayed him and he fell into the pit of hell and then got buried under half a desert full of sand."

"And I told you once before, he is not of this world." Ardeth's answer was as steady as any other he had given.

Rick threw up his hands and paced away from his friend before turning back to face him."Is that what this is about?You constantly looking over your shoulder for the shadow of Imhotep's evil?Because if it is, Ardeth, then you seriously need to get a life!"

"Then explain to me how it is that we are once again all together?" Ardeth countered.

"Settle down, get married, have kids… anything!" Rick just ignored his friend's words, because, deep down, he too wondered the very same thing.

"Why we are now bound together in this way?"

"There was something between him and Nefertiri," Evie's quiet admission stunned both men into silence."I don't know what it was, but it feels important.That was what the dream was about."

Rick went over to where she had lowered herself into the chair while he and Ardeth were arguing.He crouched in front of her and noticed for the first time how pale she looked and how tired."Evie, it was just a dream, honey," he told her, stubborn to the last.Behind him he heard Ardeth sigh and shot him a quick look of rebuke.

"No, Rick."Evie gripped his hands tightly when he took them in his own."Not this time.I hate to say it, but I think Ardeth is right.I think there's more going on here than any of us know."She sighed."It feels like before."

"Before when?" Ardeth asked the question that was on the tip of Rick's tongue and came to stand closer.

"Before Ahm Shere." Evie answered, she looked up at Ardeth, and then Rick saw her look away quickly.

He opened his mouth to say something, wanting more words of denial – plausible ones; convincing ones – to come streaming out of his mouth.None came and he closed his mouth again.

"Have you no idea what was between them?"

"Is it even relevant?" Rick asked annoyed by Ardeth's question and the way it so obviously made Evelyn uneasy.

"I do not know," Ardeth raised his voice for the fist time that day, "And until I do it is my responsibility to ask the questions that I feel will lead us to the answer of who or what it is that rises now!"He leaned down over Rick's shoulder and put the barrel shaped object that they had found in the hole left by the missing stone tablet into Evie's hands.

"What is it?" she asked, looking from him to Ardeth and back again.

"He found it in a hole in the ground," he told her with a shrug.

"I need to know what it says," Ardeth said.

Rick put his hand over the object as Evie leaned down to take a closer look."Are you sure it's safe for her to read this thing aloud?"

Ardeth nodded."Its power was in producing the guardian to prevent it being taken from its hiding place."

"What guardian?What are you two talking about?" Evie asked, once again looking between Rick and Ardeth and this time settling on Rick, locking her eyes with his.

"When he found this thing, and picked it up," he shuddered remembering, "There were all these bugs that came out of the hole and made a creature… a man with the head of a bird…"

"Like Horus?" Evie asked, frowning and looking confused."Are you all right?" she added, looking to Ardeth in concern.

"Yes, like Horus, and yes again.I am unharmed," he answered.

"What happened…?" Evie looked back to Rick.He saw her eyes roaming over his body, checking him for signs of harm.

"I'm fine, honey," he said quietly, any lingering doubts melting away under her concern."He kept all the action for himself, and then half way though the fight this thing recognised him as a Medjai and just exploded in a shower of creepy crawlies." He allowed Evie to move his hands aside and watched her face as he ran her eyes over the hieratic inscribed on the barrel.

"Then will He come, to stand before His Divine Father and stab the heart of the sun." Evie read, and then looking up, continued."And as darkness falls, so shall the weak tremble and the strong be made his slaves."

Rick looked over to Ardeth in time to see him stiffen as only a Medjai could."What?" he asked.

"This is bad," answered his friend.

"How bad?" Evie asked.

"Looking at that face?" he surmised, "Very bad!"

"I will leave Tarek and Mahmoud with you, but I must return briefly to the Medjai Elders.Perhaps they have some knowledge that can aid us."

"Briefly?"Rick suddenly felt tremendously uneasy. Anything the sent Ardeth running home to his Elders had to be _more than very bad! "How briefly?"_

"I will be as swift as I can." Ardeth answered, fixing him with a long hard look."You should stay with Evelyn."He watched as Ardeth started toward the door, "And try to find out in what way the curator of the museum is involved."

"He's not one of yours?" Rick frowned and standing up pulled Evie to her feet.As long as he could remember, the curator of the Museum of Antiquities in Cairo had been in some way connected to one of the Medjai tribes.

"He is not." Ardeth turned and answered with a look in his eyes that told Rick he had touched on a sore subject."Someone, as you people say, 'pulled strings' and our representative was dismissed."He turned away and left the room, calling to his men in Arabic as he went.Rick listened to his footsteps, a mere whisper on the stairs in spite of the boots he wore.

"There goes a very trouble man," He breathed and pulled Evie into a very close embrace.

"And here stands an equally troubled one." She wrapped her arms around his waist and for a moment Rick felt secure.Then he noticed she was trembling.

"Evie, what is it?What's wrong?"

"I think I just remembered why Nefertiri went to see Imhotep," she answered from very far away.

**

He prepared to ride in the old way from watch point to settlement, changing horse often, and resting only when exhaustion claimed him. He would ride hard and fast.Even during the most desperate of times in recent memory, when the combined tribes faced the evil of the Army of Anubis, no one Medjai warrior had made such a journey.Then it had been a network of messengers and birds.But this time that was not enough.

Ardeth needed to return home, to the first tribe, where the Elders gathered, to lay before them the facts as he knew them and receive their wisdom.It was a journey that would normally take him four to make at a leisurely pace, and one that he now had to make in under half that time, there and back.

He sighed and spoke softly to his horse as he saddled him, and gathered the things that he would need."Well, my friend… I never thought, in my lifetime, to have to make such a journey as this with you as my companion.Dark times indeed, Maharna."The horse just whinnied, and nuzzled at his shoulder.He patted his neck, and finished what he was doing.

Noticing Mahmoud standing nearby he turned to his fellow warrior and invited him to voice what was on his mind.

"Thousands of years of tradition, my lord, and yet you are so swift to believe the words of those who encouraged Anck-Su-Namun in her treason?"Mahmoud began softly."And the things those words have set in motion.You set yourself a dangerous course."

"How long have you known me, my brother?" Ardeth answered, watching his warrior's face closely enough to see the answer in his eyes before Mahmoud even spoke."And in all that time have you known me undertake any task that I have not first examined in my heart many times, to be sure that the course is right and just?"

"You are, as your father before you, a measured leader, my lord."

Ardeth put a patient hand onto the troubled warrior's shoulder and started walking with the warrior back toward the grounds of the house."It is not only the words of the Sayyadina that move me, but the other events also.In fact it is only because the Usertim woman found my friends, the O'Connells, that we are as knowledgeable as we are."He stopped walking and turned to face the man."I know you are uneasy, my warrior.But stand firm.Stand ready and trust in Allah."

"The O'Connell woman?" Mahmoud asked equally as quietly.

"I told you, Mahmoud, guard her well and help O'Connell to keep her safe." Ardeth clasped his warrior's hand and saw acceptance of his command, without too many questions.He was glad of that.He did not want to have to try and explain why he had given Usert's bell to an outsider, even if it were Evelyn O'Connell.

"May Allah smile upon you, my lord."

"And on you also, Mahmoud." Ardeth left his warrior in the grounds of the house and returned to his horse, Maharna, and the warriors that were waiting to accompany him on the first leg of the journey.

**

First of all he tried the house, and then, finding that she wasn't there, went straight to the museum.His hand curled around the warmed metal pendant in his pocket and he felt the first stirrings of excitement and adventure.Not looking where he was going he bumped into what he thought was a wall, except the walls in the museum were not warm, and dressed in black.

"I say, excuse me, I…"He ended with a little squeak as the Medjai that had planted his hand in the middle of his chest straightened up to his full height. "Oh."

"Jonathan?"As luck would have it Rick chose that moment to venture out of the office."I thought you were busy.Evie said you were on a dig."

The Medjai's fist tightened on a handful of his clothes and started to lift him up onto his tiptoes."Yes, well, it wasn't a dig as such I…" He shot Rick a look that was both panic and rebuke at mentioning the word dig in front of a Medjai warrior.

"Oh put him down, Tarek," Rick said lazily.

Jonathan staggered slightly as the brick outhouse that was Tarek set him back on his feet and then smoothed his jacket and shirt down again, trying to shake out the sand as he did so."Evie in?"

"Don't bother her Jonathan, she's not… she's not been sleeping.She's tired" Rick waved the Medjai out of Jonathan's way."She's been dreaming again."

"Rick, I wouldn't… honestly but…"

"Hey what happened to you hand?" He followed the direction of Rick's gaze to the angry cuts down the side of each hand.

"I erm… I cut it getting this."Jonathan held open his pocket enough for Rick to peer inside, turning away from the Medjai warrior as he too leaned over to try and see inside.In the next moment Rick was almost frog marching him into the curator's office, where Evie sat behind the desk with her head buried in a pile of papers.He tried to twist aside as Rick's hand darted into his pocket and pulled out the gold necklace."Hey that's mine!" he protested.

"Call it payback!" Rick shot at him."Where did you get this?"

"Where did I get…?"

"Yes," he sensed that Rick was in no mood to be given the run around. "Where did you get this?"He backed up as Rick shook the object in front of his nose and the chain fell rattling down toward his chest.

"That dig," he said in a hushed but piqued tone."The one you almost got me killed for by that brute out there."

"Let me see that." Both men groaned as Evie took it out of Rick's hand."Oh my God, Rick," she exclaimed, diving at the desk for a scrap of a parchment housed in a glass frame.Jonathan glanced at Rick as he groaned again.

"No," Rick said."Absolutely not."

"But it's the second part," Evie went on.

Jonathan caught Rick's gaze and mouthed, "The second part of what?"

"The second part," Evelyn scrambled again for the desk, first thrusting the glass encased parchment into his hands."Of the key.Look" She grabbed a cylindrical shaped object from under the pile of papers, most of which, Jonathan noticed, fell to the floor – typical Evie."There must be…"

"Evie, no!" Rick gestured to Jonathan to take something from her, but Jonathan shrugged.He was excited as Evie.She certainly didn't look tired as Rick had said.

"…A switch somewhere or…"She found the switch with her fingernail.

"Be careful Evie." He spoke to her at last, remembering the pain in his palm.He handed the glass frame to Rick and reached to take back the necklace shaped key."It opens up from the bottom and it's rather sharp," he said.

"Jonathan so help me I'll…"Rick pointed a finger in his directed and fixed him with an angry stare that he couldn't remember seeing before.Oh sure, he'd been on the receiving end of Rick's temper before, but this was a look he _hadn't seen before._

"Of for goodness sake, darling," Evie pressed down on the hand that pointed at Jonathan."It's just a key…"

"Don't you dare!" Rick cut her off."Every time you say those words we get into more and more trouble."

"I was only going to say, I don't know what you're getting so worked up about." Evie smiled sweetly at her husband before turning back to Jonathan, and once more taking the key out of his surprised hands."This parchment here," she absently snatched the parchment out of Rick's hand and gave it back to Jonathan.He looked down on the faded hieroglyphics on the parts of the parchment still readable.He could have read it, given time, but since Evie was about to tell him what it said saw little point in doing so.He didn't miss, however Rick throwing up his hands and walking back toward the door and throwing it open.

"You guys better get in here," Rick said, as his sister continued undeterred.

"…Tells of the existence of a key.The key to a Legend – maybe one of the lost legends of Ancient Egypt."She pressed the switch on the side of the key and smiled in triumph as it opened for her, and the she fiddled with the barrel until it fit into the hole now opened in the bottom of the object."But other than that, you see here…" she pointed at a part of the parchment where the hieroglyphics were faded and unreadable."The text is worn away…Maybe," she grasped Jonathan's arm and tried to lead him away from Rick and the two Medjai that had just entered the room."Maybe if we could go to the place where you found it… where did you find it anyway?"

Jonathan turned to answer, but caught the murderous look in the eyes of both the Medjai warriors and his sister's husband."Well, there's the thing, old mum," he began nervously."You know how I usually like to brag… but actually…" he squeaked as one of the Medjai took a step forward, and all his words tumbled out at once. "The truth is I won it in a game of cards from a chap at the local Casbah."He glanced at Rick to find him nodding in approval.The Medjai also relaxed and this made him feel profoundly happier.At least until his sister spoke again.

"Flim-Flam!" she snapped. "I wasn't born yesterday Jonathan Carnahan.I know when you're lying."

"First time for everything I suppose." He sighed under his breath and then he shrugged, "Sorry fellas, I tried."

"So you ARE lying," Evie cried, and threw a happy smile in his direction."Where did you find it?"

"I erm… I ran into a bit of hard luck Evie," Jonathan began his explanation, keeping a wary eye on the Medjai, and on Rick."I had to work off my debt by doing a spot of digging for a man named Marshall.He has a dig an easy couple of days from here – day and a half if you ride it hard – uncovering a small shrine to Asar Saa.I found it there.It was in a small cavity in the base of a wall."He decided not to mention the disparity between the inner and the outer dimensions of the shrine.

"Take me there."Evelyn commanded.

"Evie, no." Rick said firmly.

"Mrs O'Connell," Jonathan jumped as the deep voice of the Medjai that had challenged him when he arrived at the museum spoke. "We were instructed to ensure your safety.I do not believe it would be wise for you to leave Cairo."

"Ardeth said to stay here." Rick added.

"Yes, well," Evie suddenly turned very sober indeed, and Jonathan knew that look very well.It was one he had received many times as they grew up together."Ardeth said a lot of things, which reminds me… I have a bone to pick with that man.How DARE he order his men to keep me prisoner here."

"Prisoner?" It was the other Medjai that spoke this time."You mistake, my Lady."

"Oh I don't think so."Evie's face flushed red, and then paled again at once."He said something to you before we came to Cairo, something in Arabic, and since then you've been…"

"Evie, he told them to treat you like the wife of a Medjai." Rick interrupted, and Jonathan didn't miss the way his eyes flickered toward the two warriors.He too looked in their direction, to see confusion pass briefly over their faces."I really think we should wait for Ardeth."

"Rick, we don't have time to wait for Ardeth, you said yourself, anything that sends him dashing off to consult with his elders _must be important.He told us to find out all that we can.Well the curator has done a vanishing act and in his papers we find out about a key to a lost legend."She started pacing around, holding the key in her hand and shaking it, as Jonathan knew she always did when she was agitated, or excited about something."I'd say finding out all we can includes a visit to this shrine of Jonathan's."_

Jonathan suddenly became aware of four pairs of eyes, all looking his way and three of them less than friendly.Suddenly he felt very uncomfortable, and wondered about snatching the key back from his sister and going back to take his chances with Marshall.Hell, he'd even take a few days in Cairo prison over the anger of a couple of Medjai who, if he was reading the situation right, had been instructed by Ardeth to treat Evie pretty much like royalty.

"And anyway," Evie added, hooking her arm through her brother's. "It's just a shrine.What harm ever came from visiting a shrine?"

**

"Rider!" The look-out's cry was echoed backward into the Medjai Oasis until four riders came thundering out to meet with the incoming rider.When they saw it was one of their own, they relaxed… when they ascertained who it was, and that he was about to slide off his mount from sheer exhaustion, their relaxed demeanour once more became businesslike and brisk.

"Ride ahead, tell his family." The lead rider instructed, and handing his reins to another of the Medjai, leaped gracefully from the back of his own horse to Ardeth's.

"Elders," Ardeth gasped."I must speak with the elders."

**

A restraining hand pushed him back down onto soft skins as he tried to sit up.The goat hair brushed the skin of his back, and when he moved his legs they too felt the soft, silken touch of the skins against his thighs and calves.A light cotton sheet covered him.

He heard water splash, and then something cool and wet was placed gently onto his forehead.He tried to open his mouth to speak, but nothing came from his throat.A soft, small hand slipped under the nape of his neck and raised his head, and then water trickled between his lips, which opened in reflex.He sighed when the water was taken away.

"How long?" he asked hoarsely.

"Hours only."A female voice spoke softly, "Not long enough."

"Karida?" He opened his eyes and had to wait while the room stopped spinning enough for him to make out the unveiled face of the woman leaning over him in concern.

"Since you have not even promised to take another woman to wife, who else would be the one to care for you?" his sister answered smartly."Mother is too old to be manhandling her warrior son."She paused and met his eyes."Ardeth, what were you thinking?

"Something is rising, little sister," he answered without hesitation."It is important for me to speak with the Elders."

"Important enough to almost kill yourself with exhaustion?" she asked, once more replacing the damp cloth on his forehead."Are there armies of Anubis warriors marching toward our borders?Tuareg hosts bearing down on the twelve tribes?"He shook his head, regretting it as the room began spinning again."Then you should not have ridden as you did."

Reaching up a hand which trembled slightly he caught her fingers and pressed them to his lips, a light kiss."I know you think I do too much, Karida, but you cannot know that to be true until the events have happened and we can look back and say – there was or was not sufficient danger to warrant such a ride."

"You're my brother, Ardeth." She pulled her hand out of his."Every day you are away from home I dread two things.That the man I love will be hurt or that my brother will be."She sighed."They brought Asim home yesterday."

Ardeth sighed too."I should visit with his family before I leave.Asim was a good man. May Allah rest his soul."This time when he tried to sit up, she helped him, and then turned away to pour water into a beaker for him to drink.

"When the rider came to our tent today, I thought…" she faltered."I thought the day I dread had come."

"Tarek is well," Ardeth smiled at his sister. "He is in Cairo, with my friends, the O'Connells."He sipped the water slowly, "Neither of us are hurt – so you may rest, Karida."

"Resting is what you should be doing." She huffed, but smiled none the less.

"And I will rest," he answered, "I promise.But first I must see the Elders.Please… help me to get dressed."

"Ardeth…"

"Karida no!"He sighed angrily, and threw off the sheet that was covering him.Even as his sister, she turned away for the sake of decency."You have heard my words, now I have asked for your help.Where are my clothes?"

"Behind you." she answered."We are cleaning your desert wear.Your ceremonial robes are behind you."

Feeling guilty for having spoken harshly to a sister who, after all, was only trying to keep him safe, Ardeth pulled on the soft, silken pants and tied the drawstring.He tried to think of a way to make it up to her. "I know you care, and that is why you behave as you do."He walked up behind her, half dressed as he was, and turned her around so that he could kiss her forehead."But I truly think that it is time for you to stop worrying about a brother, and look to caring for a husband and bearing him children."She looked up at him in surprise, and saw him nod in confirmation."I will speak with Tarek, and when we return, the two of you will be married."

"You… you would give us your permission?" He smiled and nodded again, understanding her surprise.Always before when she had broached the subject of her relationship with Tarek, or even when Tarek had tried to speak with him about Karida he had been less that receptive, not willing to discuss the possibility. She was his little sister… and he felt that no man would be adequate to the task of providing for her safety and well being._Is this what it feels, to be a father caring for a daughter? he wondered idly.He watched as she picked up the first of his robes and then bent down so that she could reach to slip the silver trimmed robe up into place on his shoulders."I promise.The next time you perform this task it will be for your husband on the day after your wedding."_

**

"Ardeth Bay." They greeted him with one voice.

"Old Ones," he answered with a respectful bow.

"The artefact you found," One of the Elders stepped forward, wasting no time with pleasantries and confirming in Ardeth's mind that he had been right to journey as he did."Did it look like this?"He held up a parchment covered in Arabic script which had a drawing of the object that Ardeth had found at the bottom.

"Exactly," he confirmed.

"Then may Allah have mercy on your soul, Ardeth Bay.This is a very grave time for you, for the prophesy is upon you."Ardeth tried not to react to the Elder's words, but the growing feeling of unease that he had been battling for many days threatened to overwhelm him in that moment as the elder concluded, "It is upon us all."

"What is it?" He tried to take refuge in the things he could deal with directly."What does the artefact do and how can I stop it?"

"There is a legend, from before the time of our ancestors, about the First Medjai."Another of the Elder's stepped forward and took up the explanation."Born after the death of his Divine Father, he sought out the one that slew him and exacted his revenge for the murder of his father.He then ascended the throne and ruled righteously.But Suti was not content and wished to punish the Righteous One and worked great evil upon him, using creatures to poison him until he fell as one dead."

In spite of the apparent irrelevance, and his returning fatigue, Ardeth listened attentively.He knew the ways of the Elders, and that their every word held weight and might help him to make sense of the task now before him.

"So upset were his mother and his courtiers that they petitioned the gods to intercede on his behalf, and with the power of the Goddess Usert he was restored to life and health.He gathered to himself many brave and devoted warriors – the First Medjai – and together they cast down Suti, imprisoned his soul behind a seal so potent that it took the combined might of the priests of Asar Saa and Usert to create it.But it is written that there is a time when Suti will rise and will bring such devastation as the world has never known… the weak will tremble and the strong become his slaves, and the world the playground for his excesses.It is also written that there would be one who might oppose this creature, for creature Suti truly is; a god of Evil and chaos, the Righteous One reborn to help preserve the world for all eternity."

"The Usertim knew of this legend Ardeth, of course they did, their ancestors were a part of it, as were our own."He turned to face the new speaker, a wizened old Medjai, so creased with lines that the tattoos on his face could not longer be seen."They sought to bring the Righteous One to birth through their own intervention, watching the wives and concubines of the Pharaohs for any sign that His divinity might be upon them…"

"Merciful Allah," Ardeth came to a sudden realisation, "they mistook the touch of an Osirian High Priest for the presence of divinity in Anck-Su-Namun."

"I always knew you were a quick witted young thing from the moment I laid eyes on you."The old one flashed a solemn look in his direction."You are right.When her adultery with Imhotep was full of passion, he left a certain aura about her that the Usertim could see, and mistook for the divinity for which they had long watched.They believed she would be the one to bear the child and gave her full support, encouraged her to believe she was special.It was not until Isetnophret discovered their deception that they realised their mistake, and by then it was too late to save Pharaoh.You know the rest of that story."The Elder paused for breath. "In order to create the legend, they committed the ultimate abuse of power… trying to force fate to follow the course of a single will.In trying to do so they cursed themselves as surely as Imhotep was cursed, and since that time it has been forbidden for Usertim and Medjai to come together for fear that such a meeting might once against anger the gods."

"You have broken that taboo, First Medjai."Ardeth shuddered as a bolt of cold slid down his spine as the Elder used his official title.So little used, in fact he could only ever remember having heard it once, when he was sworn as the chief of all the twelve tribes of the Medjai, he had forgotten, until now, that this was as he should be known."And may Allah have mercy upon us all, for if that artefact is used to release the Evil from its confinement, there is none that stand between it and the world but the Medjai… and you."

Beginning to wish he had obeyed his sister's advice and remained in his bed until he was stronger, Ardeth ran a shaking hand over his eyes."What will happen?" he asked softly.

"You know as well as we, Ardeth, that the destination is something that we can only imagine, that it is the journey that is written… and of that scant little, for our ancestors were afraid that someone would make the same arrogant mistake as did the Usertim."The Elder's face became very serious indeed when next he spoke."One thing I can tell you about the journey you face…"He did not need to say any more.Ardeth saw the truth in his old eyes.


	6. Almost safety

Power Is 6

Chapter 6 

Meirionnydd picked at her food, she didn't feel like eating.She didn't feel like much at all.Every since Anton and his tame demoness had corrupted Rashid's heart she felt the worst kind of failure she'd even know.

She watched him across the camp, following Anck-Su-Namun around like the little dog she called him.She'd taken his robes from him, and kept him dressed only in his pants, the angry welts on the front of his chest were a horrible reminder of the agony he had suffered at the end of his valiant fight.

"Rashid…" she said mournfully, even though she knew he couldn't hear her."I'm so sorry."

"Oh you needn't feel sorry for him my dear."She had not heard Anton's footsteps so almost dropped her plate when he spoke."The Medjai are a bastard race of inbred desert rats.He's better off out of it."

"What is it you have against them, Anton?That you hate him so… that you punish him at every opportunity."She asked, refusing to turn and look at him. "He has more honour in his little finger than you will ever have in your whole life!"

"Had, dear…" Anton sneered."Had… I wouldn't count on it now.Of course we could call him over here and see if you'd like."He leaned down to speak right into her face, "From what I hear in the Casbahs the Medjai are very passionate, if a little… unrefined."

Meirionnydd blushed, she could feel the colour penetrate right to the tips of her ears and bit her lip at Anton's suggestive laugh.She wanted to come back and spit some witty rebuff at the man, but the truth was, at the mention of something so personal, she came apart and retreated again to the frightened young lady that she fought not to be.It was a weak spot in her otherwise successful mask of bravado.

"I'm growing bored," Meirionnydd scrambled backward in spite of herself as Anck-Su-Namun arrived with Rashid at her heels."What exactly are we waiting for?"

"My dear Lady," Anton answered, throwing an amused glance at Meirionnydd, who watched the broken Medjai as though he were the most dangerous thing in the world."We cannot simply go running off into the desert and hope that the things we are looking for will find _us."_

"And nor will we obtain them if we do not look at all." Anck-Su-Namun answered with more than a hint of sarcasm."I read the inscription, as you demanded," Meirionnydd saw her flash as bitter look toward Anton, "and told you the items we need.Why aren't you…" she broke off suddenly and Meirionnydd watched as Anton held in his hand one of the small gold bells.

"You overreach yourself, creature," he growled at her.Meirionnydd watched the brief battle waged between the owner of bell and the one it had summoned.Both Anton and Anck-Su-Namun were concentrating.But it had been she that had used the bell to summon Anck-Su-Namun, how could _he now use it to keep her under his will.If she could but get the bell from him…_

She didn't think.If she had she would never have even tried, but in the next second she threw herself toward Anton, her hands outstretched toward where he held up the small gold disk.

Arms, strong arms caught her around the waist and held her firmly as she started to struggle.She fought, and beat her hands against Rashid's already injured chest, and hissing in pain he wound her long hair around his hand and pulled her head back until she thought he neck would break.

"Rashid, please…" she gasped.

"Enough!" Anck-Su-Namun's voice ceased his relentless pulling, though he did not let her go."Stop struggling with him and I will tell him to put you down."Meirionnydd hesitated for a moment before forcing herself to go limp in his arms."Rashid," the command was given with a single word and Meirionnydd felt herself lowered, surprisingly gently to the ground.She pushed herself away from him and shook her hair free.

"Now Meirionnydd my dear."A hand closed around her arm, Anton's hand, she would know his touch anywhere.It filled her with revulsion."About these visions of yours…"

"I can't."She backed away from them still further."They make me feel so ill."

"I'll make you wish that ill was all you felt, little girl!" Anck-Su-Namun moved around behind her and caught her in a vicious grasp, fingernails digging into her arms."You'll see for us… tell us where to find the cradle for those bells, or I'll let my little playmate here show you just what Anton means by unrefined."

Defeated and fighting back tears, Meirionnydd nodded wordlessly.Aside from her own fears, she wasn't going to let Rashid dishonour himself like that.He was a good man, or had been before Anton and Anck-Su-Namun had worked their ancient, evil magic on him, and she couldn't do that to him.She stumbled as Anck-Su-Namun pushed her toward the waiting Medjai and then strode past him.

"Bring the girl." Anton commanded, and followed his creature back toward the centre of the camp.

**

"Oh my God, Jonathan, it's…!"Evie moved around the shrine, running her fingers over the hieroglyphics and reading them under her breath."I've never seen the legend written like this before, and the preservation in this shrine is amazing."

"Is it?"Jonathan laughed uneasily as she turned to him.

"Show me where you found it."

"Evie, are you sure that's wise?" Rick piped up from where he was standing in the corner looking at a picture depicting a battle, a large battle that seemed strangely reminiscent to Evie, as she peered around his shoulder at the image he was viewing, of the tales Ardeth had told them about the battle the Medjai and the Anubis warriors had fought.

"You, Rick O'Connell, are getting boring in your old age," she chastised him.

"And you're getting reckless," he answered."Is this what I think it is…?"

"And what might that be?"Evelyn spun around at the sound of the unfamiliar voice from behind her, in the doorway of the temple and in the next minute felt herself pulled to stand behind Rick, who snatched his weapons into his hands."So, Carnahan, you decided to come back after all."

"Marshall," Jonathan explained, looking over at the newcomer and his two friends, all armed, with guns pointing in their directions.

"You better hand over whatever it was you found that made you think this was a big deal, Carnahan, or I'll…"

"Or you'll what?" Rick took a step forward, putting himself in the way of Evie's view. She huffed at not being able to see and moved to the other side.

"So this is the famous Rick O'Connell?" Marshall sneered, and Evie didn't like his tone one little bit.

"I think you gentlemen had better step outside," she said in a firm and steady voice."I'm here as a representative of the Cairo Museum of Antiquities to tell you that we're going to be taking over from here, thank you very much."She lied.She smiled sweetly as Rick shot a quick look over his shoulder at her.

"I don't think so, lady."Marshall answered back, and pulled back the hammer on his gun."This is my dig site."

Fighting back a snigger, Evelyn suddenly experienced a huge flash of déjà vu.She said quietly, "Oh really?"

"Cause I see only one of you with any kind of fire power, and three of us."

"It always boils down to that, doesn't it?"Evie said with a shrug watching the silent figures move in behind the three men."Have any of the three of you gentlemen heard of Hamunaptra?"

"Yeah?" Marshall answered, throwing Rick a look that Evie interpreted as an appraisal of her mental state.She could almost imagine the look on Rick's face.A patient kind of smile with a huge dash of sarcasm.It was a smile she was particularly good at.

"Then you'll have heard of its guardians too," Rick said, almost in a sing song fashion.

"Yeah, but Hamunaptra's miles from here, and them desert bully boys don't bother with nothing as…" he stopped as the sound of rifles cocking came from behind him.

"Put down your weapons and leave this place." Evie smiled as Tarek spoke, quiet but dangerous.She watched as Marshall and his cronies turned slowly and almost fell over themselves in their haste to back away from the two armed, veiled and imposing Medjai warriors.

"You see," Rick stepped forward to take the weapons out of the startled men's hands."We tried to warn you, but you just wouldn't listen.Your type never does."

"Look, Mr Marshall," Evie pushed past Rick and came to stand in front of the troubled looking man, putting herself between the two Medjai who shifted uncomfortably."I'm not an unreasonable woman, and I do appreciate that you've done a lot of work here, but my research suggests that this may be more than just a simple shrine to Asar Saa, and it needs investigating, and it needs doing safely."

Behind the two men, Rick shot a look at her."Evie," he said in a warning tone.

"If you can assure me that you will follow my instructions, and do as these gentlemen say – it being their territory and all – I'm prepared to allow you to stay on and assist in the investigation."

"Mrs O'Connell," Tarek began quietly.

"I understand your objection, Tarek," she told him, "But I think the more swiftly this shrine is uncovered and the truth of it found, the better… and for that I need as many hands as I can get.I can't expect you two to watch over the encampment _and do the digging at the same time."_

She watched the faces of the three men and could almost see Marshall weighing things up in his mind, his eyes darting back and forth between the two Medjai and then back to her.Eventually he nodded."Okay."

Evie reached out her arms and put pressure on the barrels of the Medjai's rifles.She hadn't a hope of pushing them down, but they understood her intentions, and lowered them anyway.

"You will come with us." She was surprised when Tarek spoke again."We must reorganise the camp."With a slight bow to Evie, the Medjai stood aside to let the other men precede them out of the chamber of the shrine.

"Evie, what did you do that for?" Jonathan demanded.

"Good question," Rick added when she turned to him for support.

"Oh for goodness sake!" She threw up her hands, "All I was trying to do was to appease the man's pride and avoid any more conflict.I have a feeling we're going to see enough of it as it is, we don't need Marshall and his cronies adding to the trouble as well."She pointed her finger at Jonathan, and he actually backed up a step."Now, tell me, where did you find it?"

**

Anton stood in front of her, holding out the beaker.Even the smell of it turned her stomach.She looked at him, appealing with her eyes for him not to make her go through with the visions for him, but his return gaze was uncompromising.She reached out a trembling hand and took the beaker.

As the bitter herbs slid over her tongue she closed her eyes on the faces of the people who so gleefully watched her torment, but more to shut out Rashid's dark, emotionless eyes.

After a while she felt the nausea creeping up from her stomach, much worse than ever before and in panic she snapped open her eyes again.The room spun around with her as the axis and she moaned.She was hot, too hot.She tried to move but felt the world around her beginning to darken.

She felt her legs give out under her, and arms catch her before she hit the floor.Felt herself lifted and carried a short distance before being set down.The scent of him was all around her, warm and spicy – eternally masculine, but became a part of the beginning of her vision as it finally claimed her.

_"Andy keteer ayeza akolo leek, ya sagheri." His voice was wistful and deep and wrapped her in sensuality with its deep longing, even though she couldn't understand what he said._

__

_She walked toward him, where he stood in the doorway of a large canvass tent, and over his shoulder she could see the pink of the sky in sunset.In the deepening shadow she ran her eyes over the smooth, muscled planes of his back augmented by the deep blue symmetrical picture formed by the two figures, kneeling on the Eye of Horus symbols, tattooed on each of his shoulder blades.They were facing inward their hands outstretched toward a seven rayed star between them._

__

_Just as she would have touched him – she so wanted to wrap her arms around him and almost sobbed aloud at the pain in her heart – the scene began to spin away._

"No, not now," she moaned and fought to hold on to the image of the man, almost willing him to turn, so that she could see him, but Anton's voice broke in on her mental fight.

"The cradle, Meiri… tell me where to find the cradle."

_"Sekhemkare," The tall, painfully handsome man turned toward the sound of her voice.In an intangible way, he felt strangely familiar to Meirionnydd, but all too soon the personality of the woman in the vision took over her emotions as the scene began to be played out."May we speak?"_

__

_"Not with your women, Isetnophret?" He mocked her."Or are they too busy mourning that traitorous bitch!"_

__

_"Please, First Medjai," she sighed, "It is because of Anck-Su-Namun that I am here and here alone.We must speak."_

__

_He folded his arms over his chest."Then speak.I have ears."_

__

_"Alone."_

__

_"No." He snapped, and breathed in deeply."Anything you have to say can be said before Ma'nakhtuf." He nodded to the Medjai warrior standing with him._

__

_"There is no TIME for this posturing, Sekhemkare!" she snapped, and stood her ground as the Medjai stepped forward._

__

_"Posturing?" he almost raised a hand to her, but his honour prevented him striking any woman, let alone a Priestess of Usert."Pharaoh lies dead at the hand of his traitorous mistress and you accuse us of posturing?"_

__

_"Listen to me." She placed a hand on his arm, but he shook off the contact as if it dirtied him somehow."We need your help."_

__

_He laughed.It was a humourless, bitter laugh."You have never needed out help, Usertim.We have only ever been of use to you for one reason, and one reason alo…"_

__

_She shook her head to cut him off and said mournfully, "You are needed now… never more so than now."_

Pain, more horrible than anything she had felt before blossomed through Meirionnydd.She screamed aloud, vaguely aware of the sudden movement around her.

"What is happening?" Anck-Su-Namun said urgently.

"I… I don't know."Anton's voice sounded shocked, "I… I've never see her do this before.

Convulsions seized her body as the pain spread from her belly through the whole of her body.Her heart began pounding in her chest and she couldn't breathe.

"Please," she didn't even know to whom she spoke, "Please, Ar…"

_"Ssshhh, rest now."The voice was so gentle, so full of concern, "It must be.It is time to let go."Warm strong arms surrounded her, the scent of sandalwood and cinnamon spice… soft black robes and her head on a shoulder, broad and strong dominated her awareness, and somehow there, the pain seemed less.It seemed to be receding."We were wrong, Sayyadina, forgive me."_

__

_"Nothing… to…" he voice failed and she realised with sudden panic that she was dying, but that was all right.There in his arms, it was all right – and she knew the sistrum would be safe, the remaining parts hidden in…_

**

"You have to wake now," he murmured.His eyes open but unseeing."No.You must not say more!Wake… do not…"

"Ardeth?"One of the warriors travelling with him leaned over and laid a hand onto his shoulder.Ardeth started, his awareness rushing back into him with a jolt that was almost toppled him from his horse.It was like the feeling he sometimes had when he woke suddenly… from a dream.He snapped his head round to look at the man, and tightened his grip on the reins."My chief?"

"Quickly," he answered."We must ride!"

**

"Hamunaptra!" Meirionnydd screamed as the pain took hold of her again with the ending of the vision.

_la yageb an takeel mazeed._

"Hamunaptra," she sobbed the word, the quiet Arabic plea repeating in her head, making her feel lost and hopeless.Filling her with a need to find the speaker and beg for his forgiveness."That's all I know… please don't make me see any more!"

"So she hid it where the Medjai would protect it too… very clever." Anck-Su-Namun came to sit beside her.Meirionnydd tried to move away, but had not the strength to move, and the pain in her body, in her side was still overwhelming.Instead she curled into a ball, closing her eyes tightly in the hope that the voice would fade…It didn't.

_la yageb an takeel mazeed._

__

"Please don't make me see any more…" she couldn't even flinch when Anck-Su-Namun stroked her hair in a parody of concern."I can't… I can't…"

"You don't have to," Anck-Su-Namun cooed."You've told us what we need to know… and now…"

"Rashid, take her back to her own tent." Anton interrupted, reaching down to pull at Meirionnydd's arm.She whimpered, and then cried out as she was forced to straighten up and get her legs under her."And Medjai… make sure you come straight back."

The room tilted as Anton pushed her in the direction of the broken Medjai.She scraped her knees on the floor as her legs gave out before he caught her arm and pulled her back up to her feet.

She heard Anck-Su-Namun's laughter as she said, "Going soft on the girl, Anton… or do you just not want my little dog to have his fun?"

**

"Your little dog can have his fun when I am done with the girl," Anton snapped, watching the tent flap swing closed after Rashid, who had finally resorted to carrying the stricken girl.

"Temper, temper."Anck-Su-Namun stalked across the room towards him and then walked a circle around him, trailing a hand around his chest."Anyone would think you are jealous.She is a pretty little thing after all."

"She's a tool."Anton slapped the hand away.It wasn't that he didn't think Anck-Su-Namun attractive, he did.Far more than was safe.It would only take one small lapse in his concentration where this creature was concerned and he had no doubt that she would use him, and throw him aside as she had the other men in her many lives.

She laughed."Don't you trust me?"

"Would you?" He raised his eyebrows in query and watched as her laughter faded, to be replaced by an expression of calm and confidence.

"You're quite right… and so we understand each other," she said."Because I _will not be owned by a man."_

"You are _my creature," he challenged her statement._

"Only so long as you hold the bell that summoned me," she answered with a sly smile, "So sleep lightly."

He glanced over to the door as Rashid returned, entering and moving to stand with Anck-Su-Namun."The girl?"

"She is resting." Rashid answered."She…" he hesitated, and his glance toward Anck-Su-Namun was not missed by the ever suspicious Anton.

"Speak, animal!She what?"

"I think… she is sick." The Medjai met his frank and angry gaze unflinchingly and for a moment Anton wondered if he had somehow managed to throw off the unholy domination that Anck-Su-Namun had placed on him.

"Concern?" He snapped.

Rashid shrugged, "I merely inform you of what I have seen, master," he said."She was muttering, in Arabic…'You must not say more' the same phrase again and again.She is delirious."

"Do you think it's important?" Anck-Su-Namun asked, drawing Anton's attention back to her."Something she saw and did not say?I'm sure, with a little persuasion…"

"She may have seen something, but I doubt that it matters," Anton answered."She has given me the information I required in providing us with the location of the sistrum."

"And you have the bells," Anck-Su-Namun said."So why do you still need to keep her?"

"I keep her because it pleases me to do so.There may still be a use for her." Anton snapped.He was uncomfortable, explaining himself to someone that was little more than another tool… a more suitable vessel for the spirit of Usert, that would allow him to use the sistrum more easily once it had been assembled.

"I can imagine." Anton frowned at the suggestive tone in Anck-Su-Namun's voice.He fixed her with an angry stare, but she just shrugged and returned a sarcastic smile.Moments later she asked."So… when do we leave for Hamunaptra?"

"We don't," he said bluntly."At least not until I can be sure we've given the damned Medjai a distraction to keep them away from us."

**

Rick came back into the shrine to find Evie sitting on the top of one of the few rocks that remained in the chamber.He watched her for several moments, marvelling at the way he still felt, even after all their years of marriage.His heart still turned somersaults at the way her hair bounced around on her shoulders as she moved her head while reading the walls; his stomach still knotted tightly around his heart when she turned her beautiful, expressive eyes on him, as she did now; and he still melted each time she took him into her arms – well perhaps not every time… she just had this way of touching him that instantly put fire into his…

"Rick?"He jumped like a naughty schoolboy as she waved her hand in front of his face."Is something the matter?"

"What?"He smiled, "Oh no, nothing wrong… just that it's getting late, and you haven't eaten yet."

"I'll eat in a while.I'm not really hungry," she said.

"Evie," he took her by the shoulders and drew her into his arms.He kissed her forehead lightly."It's not going to help you figure it out any faster if you don't look after yourself.Come and eat, honey."

When she laid her head on his chest he wrapped his arms around her back and held her close, rocking her from side to side."I AM rather tired," she said, "but I need to figure out where this key goes… and what it might unlock."

"It'll still be here in the morning." Rick murmured into her hair."And coming back to it with a fresh mind will probably make things a whole lot easier."

"Hmmm," she agreed and looked up into his waiting kiss.He sighed as her lips parted under his and she joined with him in the tender battle that their kisses always were.Her hands came up to rest against his shoulder blades to lean him toward her.Then breaking the kiss softly she rubbed her nose against his, before he rested their foreheads together.

"Come on, lets go get something to eat," he said his voice still husky and settling his arm around her shoulder he began to lead her from the shrine.

"I wonder what Ardeth is doing now."

"Oh he's probably… hearing about "written" stuff."He made speech marks in the air with his fingers."Getting ready to scare the bejeezus out of us with it all when he gets back," he answered in amused but lazy tones.He didn't want to think about Ardeth right now… he didn't really want to _think about very much at all._

**

Weary, but according to the voice in his head, with still a little way to go, Jamaal held up his hand to order his warriors to rest for the night.He walked to the edge of the camp because he heard the voice better when he was away from the others.

"What is it that you wish from me, my djinn?" he asked quietly, "When we reach their camp, what then?"

_I have told you… find the woman.Only she is important.Kill the others._

__

"How will I know her?"

_You will know her by her beauty._

"But what do I do with her once…"

_Enough!Question me no more!_

The voice fell silent.Jamaal shivered.He was a long way from home, and this territory belonged to the Medjai.He had no desire to bring his men into a battle with those sacred warriors.Last time he had lost over half his men and barely escaped with his own life.He thought for a moment and then shrugged…A beautiful woman, untold riches and a greater power among the Tuareg tribes… perhaps the risk was worth it after all.

He turned and barked orders to his riders and then made his way back to the central fire.He would do as his djinn commanded… and would have all the wealth and power that he deserved.

He had a very self satisfied smile on his face when his finally fell asleep.

**

"Any luck, Old Mum?" Evie almost dropped the brush she was using as a pointed as Jonathan's voice sounded right behind her.

"Jonathan!" she chastised and turned to push him back so that she could talk past him."I do wish you wouldn't sneak up on a girl like that."

"I didn't sneak," he protested."You were just so engrossed in your reading you didn't hear me."

"Yes, well," Evie turned to another section of wall and began pouring over the hieroglyphics there, once again using her brush as a pointer."I was trying to see if there were any clues as to where we might use this key of ours."

"And did you?"The hopeful tone in his voice was augmented by the expression on his face as Evie turned towards him.Her lip stuck out in a pout as she shook her head.

"I wondered if the clues might be in the pictures rather than the text, but I've been going over and over those since early this morning, and there's nothing."She turned back to the wall full of hieroglyphics and raised her brush-pointer.She knew what she was about to say would be a disappointment to her ever hopeful brother. "It's an amazing shrine, Jonathan, but I'm beginning to wonder if there is anything more here at all."

"But Evie, the dimensions… this place is bigger…"

"Wait a minute," Evie said as he brush caught on a slight ridge in the wall."This is interesting.Hand me my chisel there would you?"She pointed behind her at the space on the ground where her "lucky" tool roll – still the same one that Rick had "borrowed" for her on their first visit to Hamunaptra – was unrolled.

"What is it?"She felt the subdued excitement streaming off her brother as he brought her the delicate chisel, and for good measure the hammer that looked as if it would be more successful at breaking toffee brittle than it would the ancient stones of the shrine.

"This section of the wall here," she said, starting to scrape around a small square section of the wall."It's almost as though it was added after the rest of the text had been…"

"Oh my God, Evie," Jonathan rushed back to her tool roll to pick up a second implement and then he too began scraping away the powdery chalk and lime mix that looked as though it had been used as a kind of ancient mortar holding the stone panel in place.

"Careful, Jonathan," Evie said, putting her hand onto the panel to stop it from falling out and smashing on the floor.

"Did you find something?"She and Jonathan both jumped as Rick joined them in the small shrine.

"Rick," Jonathan began, echoing Evie's admonition to him when he had surprised her."Don't sneak up on us like that!"

"Sneak?Me?With my size?" Rick came to Evie's side.

"I think we've found it, Rick!" she said excitedly."Hold this," she gave him her archaeological tools and fitted her fingers gingerly into the small gap to pull the stone free.Jonathan helped, which was lucky because the marble panel was heavier than she thought it was going to be.

Once they had set the panel onto the ground they straightened up, and Evie, looked between her husband and brother as all three of them saw the triangular indentation in the rock beneath.She spun away to go and find the two parts of the key from her bag.

Fitting the key together again, she let out a small sound of surprise when Rick caught her arm."Are you sure about this Evie…?And don't ask me what harm can it cause.When Ardeth picked up that barrel, it had a guardian – when Jonathan found the other part of the key it was protected physically…"

"Rick, I understand what you're saying, but this is a shrine… there are no mummies here, we are nowhere near the Nile… I have a good feeling about this Rick, there's nothing going to happen this time."Gently, she eased his hand off her arm and moved her brother aside so that she could fit the triangular part of the key into place, with the corkscrew like barrel protruding.She took a deep breath, and once more looked between the two men.In spite of her assurance, Rick took one of his guns into a hand and looked around as she grasped the end and started to turn the key.

**

The world was still spinning around her as soon as she opened her eyes and she barely made it out of the heat of her tent before she vomited into the sand.She had no idea how long she had been lying in her tent… but from the position of the sun that now beat down on the top of her head, Meirionnydd knew that it was not the same day.

As the dizziness settled, she looked around and tried to figure out what was going on.People were moving around the camp as thought they were making preparations for something.Anton was talking with some of the native men that served to augment his guards, and Anck-Su-Namun was bent over the table that had been set in front of Anton's tent.She appeared to be examining a map.

Climbing to her feet, Meirionnydd moved away to go and try to find some water.It wasn't until she had been wandering around for quite some time that she realised Rashid was nowhere to be seen.

"So you decided to survive then, little girl." Meirionnydd had not realised she had strayed to close to the walking cruelty that was Anck-Su-Namun until the creature spoke to her."Anton was quite worried about you."

"Yeah, I'll bet," Meirionnydd answered sarcastically.She bristled when the woman in front of her merely shrugged.

"You really have no idea do you?" Anck-Su-Namun said."No idea what he's using you for… no idea the power that you are letting loose on the world."

"I didn't do anything," she argued uncomfortably.

"You were born to it, little girl!" Meirionnydd flinched as Anck-Su-Namun reached out to caress her face."I can see it in your face… in your eyes…"

"What?"Meirionnydd couldn't keep from asking the question, feeling the image, the memories of green rolling hills, and the love of a woman she called mother falling away under the unflinching gaze of the resurrected princess, housed in the body of a modern and unnaturally malicious woman."What are you talking about?"

"It's in your blood," Anck-Su-Namun's eyes flashed victoriously."It's in your heart, little girl and one day, you'll know."Meirionnydd flinched as Anck-Su-Namun leaned down to look into her eyes.There she saw the reflection of something dark, an echo of the power that she'd been forced to use to raise the creature. "You'll know, one day, and wish that you did not."

_"So much that I need to say…"She fell within herself, there was no warning, and images came at her fast and fleeting.They felt different than before, more like the beginning of the last nightmare use of the "sight" the day before – mutable… unfixed and shifting._

_A hand came gently down onto her shoulder, she turned… and turned… and turned, never quite catching hold of the vision of the man, she sensed it was a man, to whom she was turning.Incredible sorrow rising in her heart turned to horror as she looked down to her hands, her hands outstretched before her… hands that were covered in blood.Breathless… she was breathless with longing, with a need that was so physical it almost turned her inside out.Deep brown eyes – shining bright with tears – looked down on her from above… a sweet sharp pain.Robes… black robes, silver edged – and troubled, pained faces all looking her way… A hand came down gently onto her shoulder, she turned… and turned… and turned… to face a young woman with deep brown and strangely familiar eyes.She was weeping as she took her hand to pull through the gathered people toward a tent – a large tent… the door pulled back – making a triangle shape… a dark shape that seemed to want to swallow her…and then darkness…she could see no more._

Unable to face what might be through that door, with the world once more turning about her, Meirionnydd lost her fight for consciousness.

**

Gears clicked, and pulleys worked as Evie turned the key, unlocking the lock. Rick glanced nervously around, waiting to see from which direction the danger would come, because he had no doubt that it would come.

After what seemed like an eternity a small dark crack began to show at the top of the wall opposite from where Evelyn stood.He raised his gun to train it on the growing opening.It was dark beyond so they could not see anything, but glancing at his wife and brother-in-law he saw their eyes shining with excitement.Why the hell couldn't they ever recognise the danger?

"Evie, no!Get back!" he called as she started to walk towards the gap.

"Rick it's all right, it…"

"Humour me?Please? Just this once?"

With a slight shrug she came to stand beside him, still watching the doorway that was fast opening in front of them.For a long time after the door had descended into the ground and the doorway stood gaping in front of them, no-body moved, and then slowly Rick began to inch forward, holding out his free arm to keep Evie behind him.

It was dark in the chamber beyond, so when nothing had leaped out at them after a while, he picked up one of the flaming torches from a sconce in the wall, and went a little further forward.Even he gasped at the sight before the three of them.

Gold glinted from every wall and gemstones and jewels sparkled from the many pictures that interrupted the flow of writing that he knew from his long association with Evie was a mixture of hieroglyphics and hieratic.He looked over at her and saw her frown, before she took the torch out of his hand and started to walk around, close by the walls.

"Rick?" she said softly after just a moment or two studying some of the hieratic text."You know I said I had a good feeling about this…?"

"Yeah?"

"I think I just changed my mind."

"Why?What does it say?" Rick moved toward her, once again readying his weapon as though he expected something to leap out of the gold and gem encrusted walls to attack them.

"This text warns about the destruction of every order, of everything know… of chaos and… and..." she sighed, and then running her fingers down a line of text again said, "Oh."

"Oh?" Rick raised his eyebrows, "Okay now I'm worried.You've never said "oh" in that tone of voice before."

Reading aloud Evie said, "The _power of man to rise, and of the rising sun to fall, but then… then the next section here is in hieroglyphics.__And her hand upon Sah.And… and then the next section says __Seven times, as the seven rays, a prayer upon each.It just doesn't make sense."Rick saw her run her fingers through her hair a look of frustration on her face._

"Are you sure you're reading it right?" Jonathan said quietly.Rick cringed.

"Of course I'm reading _it right!" she snapped, swinging round and almost thrusting the burning torch into his face."__It just doesn't read right."_

"All right, all right."Jonathan leaned backward to avoid the torch."I was only asking."

"Perhaps it's in some kind of code."Rick suggested, hoping it would smooth over the ruffled feathers."Maybe whoever wrote it deliberately mixed it up to stop whatever knowledge is written on those walls from falling into the wrong hands."

He watched Evie's face slowly light up as she turned back and suddenly started scouring the walls again, no doubt looking for two pieces of text that would fit together and make sense.Just when he thought the tension was going to burst him open she turned and triumphantly announced, "You're right!"

"I am?" he asked, more than a little surprised.After all, he had only made the suggestion to stop her from attacking Jonathan with the burning brand in her hand.

"Yes," she said, "look here."She pointed to one of the original pieces of hieratic text and read, "_The power of man to rise, and of the rising sun to fall," then she moved to another section on one of the other walls and continued, "__within so that the man becomes…"She trotted toward Rick and almost careful of the brand this time threw her arms around his neck."Oh Rick, you're a genius.This is __so_ exciting.And it must be something very important for it to be so carefully guarded like this."

Over her shoulder, Rick threw Jonathan a helpless and rather worried look."Something very important…"

"Or extremely naughty," Jonathan finished.

"Evie, maybe this is not something we should be playing around with until we know what it is that we're playing with."Rick added.She pulled out of his arms, and this time he took the torch from her before she could set any more of his hair on fire."If this is a part of whatever it was that made Ardeth go rushing off home, then maybe we should wait for him to get back before we go accidentally waking something that we might regret having around."

"Or maybe," Evie argued, "we should try and make sense of it so that we have something to tell him when he _does get back."_

**

Lying on his back, he stared at the stars, naming each one, each constellation from memory – remembering the stories his father had told him about each of them.He knew he should rest, as the men were doing, but peace evaded him, and whenever he stopped concentrating on something him mind returned to the Elder's words, and the troubles now facing them.

He tried to be philosophical.They had faced overwhelming odds before and still succeeded… and perhaps it would not even come down to a fight if he were able to discover those behind the threat and stop them from succeeding in their use of the power for ill.

"Rider!"

At the sound of the lookout's voice, Ardeth rolled swiftly to his feet, and moved toward the sentry's position.He heard the warriors he had brought with him also coming to full alertness and couldn't help but feel a rush of confidence in his men.

"Who?" he asked as he reached the Medjai warrior on watch."Tuareg?"

The sentry shook his head and answered, "Medjai.Coming this way."

Ardeth considered riding out to meet the incoming rider, but decided against it.So stood waiting with the sentry for the lone Medjai to arrive.As he got closer, Ardeth's face cracked into a huge smile and as soon as the warrior reached his fellow Medjai and slid from his horse, Ardeth embraced him warmly.

"Rashid, my brother!"He led the man further into the camp, toward the central fire."It is good that you have returned.

He waited while Rashid, one of his most hardened warriors, caught his breath before offering him a water skin to quench his thirst."Thank you.I worried I would not find you in time."

"What is it?"He took back the water skin when Rashid handed it to him."What has happened?"

"I was able to follow the men that took the tablet," Rashid told him, rapidly gaining control over his breathing."They returned to their camp and I watched for days to try and understand their purpose."

"What did you learn?" He leaned forward, listening intently, certain that this was just the break that he needed to turn the tide of the coming battle.

"There is a man.He has some kind of artefact which he intends to use to uncover the wealth of the Pharaohs."

"He's going to Hamunaptra?" Ardeth queried.He peered into Rashid's face for a moment.Something didn't feel right – something out of place.But Rashid was one of his oldest companions, they had grown together… fought together since manhood and he would, and often had trusted the man with his life.He shook his head, to rid himself of the uneasy feeling.

  
"Not right away," Rashid answered, shaking his head and reaching over to grasp Ardeth's wrist."First he travels to raise the support of the Tuareg tribes in the East.He means to send them into battle against us to prevent us from interfering with his plans…"

"Which could start a war more deadly than either of our peoples could afford." Ardeth sighed, "He must be stopped.You have done well, my friend.Are you able to ride?"

"The future of our people is at stake," Rashid nodded.

"Warriors," he called, "Prepare to ride."

To a man, the Medjai set about making their plans.Ardeth watched, and listened closely as Rashid explained all that he could of their enemy's camp before deciding on what would be the best plan of attack.

"How far is this encampment?" he asked.

"If we ride hard, we could reach the camp before dawn." Rashid answered

"But if we ride too hard, we and the horses will be unable to fight," argued Asif, another seasoned warrior beside whom Ardeth had fought many times before.

"Agreed," he said, "But we cannot take the risk that the man will gather the tribes to him before we can arrive."Ardeth looked from face to face and saw understanding in the eyes of each of his warriors."I have confidence that, Allah willing, each of you is equal to the demands I make of you." He praised them."We will ride, and ride hard.Asif, Rashid, Omran and myself, we will concentrate on the centre of the camp, here…" he pointed to the marker in the centre of a hastily drawn map."We will try to locate the leader of these people and take back the artefact.The rest of you must secure the camp.Be swift and strong my warriors.Let's ride!"

**

It was dark.Meirionnydd opened her eyes and was relieved when she could sit up without feeling as thought she would once again lose consciousness.The world was no longer spinning.She sat for a moment trying to work out what time of day it was.It was dark, yes… but just dark?Half way through the night?What?

Getting up carefully, she pulled a nearby robe over the top of her long night dress and pulled her sandals onto her feet.

The camp outside her tent was quiet making her think that it was a good way into the night.There would still be sentries, of course there would, but she needed to get something to drink.Her mouth was dry, her head was pounding and her throat was sore.

Outside of her tent the air was cold. She welcomed the bite of it, letting the night breeze blow away the last of the sticky tendrils of vision from her aching head.She thought it must be very late, because everyone appeared to be sleeping – the hired natives that worked as Anton's dogsbodies lay on the ground around the fire, the tents of the others, those that acted as guards and hired bully boys were closed, and neither Anton nor Anck-Su-Namun were anywhere in sight.

"You must sleep." she jumped as the voice came out of the darkness."Go back to your tent."

"I need to get some water," she answered calmly, turning to face the sentry that had no doubt come to investigate the movement in the camp.He was one of the natives, armed with a vicious looking knife and a beaten up old rifle.

"Then be quick," he told her."You should be sleeping."

She felt him watching her as she continued walking across to the area where she knew the water was kept, where she was more often than not brought when it was time to eat._Typical western man she thought bitterly."Out in the middle of nowhere in the desert and Anton still has to have a dining room," she said aloud._

She moved around the "dining room" which was in reality little more than a canvas covering a large wooden table.She found herself a beaker and poured some water from the skin into the beaker.Taking a sip, she grimaced as the tepid fluid slid over her tongue and then she sighed.She would have given anything in that moment for a sip of ice cold, refreshing water.Still, it washed away the awful taste in her mouth.

Feeling weary, she sat down on one of the chairs beside the table and laid her head against the smooth, relatively cool surface and contemplated everything that had occurred in the last few weeks.She had been dragged from her home, forced to drink noxious substances that left her weak and sick… had seen things that would have made even the strongest of hearts fail, and had wondered on more than one occasion if she might be losing her mind.She was lost, away from everyone she loved, and afraid… so very, very afraid.

She tried extremely hard not to show her fear in front of Anton, or any of his men.He only treated her more cruelly when she did, but ever since he had made her summon the woman… and she found herself wondering for a moment where she had come _from… her fear had been growing and it had been harder and harder to hide it._

She felt tears prickle in the back of her eyes, and for once allowed herself the indulgence of letting them go, to fall against the dark surface of the table on which she rested her head… but a flood threatened to follow and she had to press her leg against the corner of the chair on which she sat to get herself under control once more.

Meirionnydd could not have said the precise moment she became aware of the sound that was vibrating through the table.She thought for several moments that it was her imagination, the memory of the thunder that so often split the valleys in her home in Snowdonia.As the sound got louder and more noticeable… and at the movement from the edges of the camp and the few shouts in Arabic… she realised it was not her imagination, but the sound of something coming closer.The fear in the voices from around her told her that it was not something good.

When the first of the gunshots sounded, she almost fell over backwards in her haste to get out of the chair and then she froze as other gunshots came from around her.A strange smell started drifting past her nostrils after a while, sharp and biting, that wrapped around her already aching throat.With growing horror she suddenly realised that the sound she had heard was not the sound of thunder at all, but the sound of hoof beats.

She had to get to safety, somewhere away from the camp.She came out of the dining tent and amid the smoke rising from the many fires that were now burning, almost got mown down by a horseman riding hard through the centre of the camp.With a little squeal, half of surprise, and half of panic, she leaped aside and as she lost her balance and fell she had to scramble still further to avoid being trampled by the dancing hooves as the rider turned the horse and lashed out with a wicked blade in her direction.

Meirionnydd looked up into a face full of hatred and rage.She saw nothing but the desire for power and killing in his dark eyes.He raised his blade to strike again and Meirionnydd raised her hands to cover her head in self defence, expecting the killing blow any second.

More shots rang out, deafening in their nearness.Meirionnydd swallowed back a scream to match the one the man on horseback made.The horse whinnied, and then Meirionnydd felt a weight settle onto her.She opened her eyes and took her hands away from her head in time to see the horse struggle to its feet. She pushed at the weight, still on her legs and looked down to see the Tuareg warrior roll toward the ground, half of his chest a mass of blood and his dark eyes open and staring.

She had never seen a dead body before, let alone one with half of its chest blown away.Surprise turned to shock, and shock rekindled her terror.She screamed in the realisation that, if not for someone shooting the man, she would most likely be dead… or worse…Pushing again at the literal dead weight on her feet, she screamed again.

**

A woman screamed.Jamaal, fighting close on horseback in hand to hand combat with a Medjai warrior, glanced in her direction.She was small, but pretty.Her robe flapped open as she scrambled up, still screaming and started to back away from the dead warrior, one of his, at her feet.Beneath she wore a shapely white dress that did very little to hide the nature of her womanly curves.

_Find the woman.Only she is important.Kill the others._

The words came back to him in a flash that gave him strength and he lashed out at the Medjai, taking him from the saddle with a single blow.He didn't wait to see if his enemy was killed or merely stunned, all that mattered to him was getting to the girl.He had to obey his djinn.Turning his horse, and letting out an ululating cry, he spurred his horse toward her.

The woman saw him coming, and almost tripped over the robe as she turned and started to run.He smiled.So she was going to try and escape, well good… he liked the chase.Helped him to work up an appetite for the things that might come after… if his djinn would allow.

**

Already cursing heavily that they had arrived too late, and at least one of the Tuareg tribes had already arrived, Ardeth had no choice but to fight them.He called out a rapid string of orders to his men and weapons were drawn, first rifles to reduce the odds – the Medjai were outnumbered at least three to one – and then as they all closed in, scimitars were drawn.

The fight was vicious and deadly.Fights with the Tuareg usually were, for they were relentless and would not surrender or retreat even when, as now, they were in the wrong.They were well outside their territory, summoned by the man that sought to use them, a man that would for the sake of greed start a war that would tear the very fabric of the desert to pieces.He shook his head, letting off another round as his horse almost flew into the fray.He would have liked to have told the truth of it to their leader, but knew that he would not ever be listened to by a man of the Tuareg tribes, let alone ever heard.

Abandoning his rifle, he was too close now, he pulled out his scimitar, and with a fierce cry bore down on the nearest unfortunate Tuareg warrior.The man fought hard and with passion, but he was no match for the Medjai leader and soon joined the fast growing number of his fellow warriors on the ground.

Sensing movement behind him rather than hearing it, Ardeth threw back his arm, angling his scimitar diagonally across his back to catch the incoming blow.

"Coward!" he spat in Arabic over his shoulder as he turned to face the warrior that had attacked him.

The man, truly a coward, pulled back hard on his horse's reins so that the horse reared up and Ardeth's next scimitar strike caught it on the chest, slashing a huge gash in the helpless creature's chest.He cursed hard.The horse was a fine animal and he lamented injuring it.It screamed as it went down, pinning its rider's leg beneath its chest.The man struggled to free himself as Ardeth slid from the saddle, keeping one hand still on the reins he faced the man and waited for him to get to his feet.The Tuareg warrior scrambled backwards as the he came on, and barely managed to raise his own blade to deflect the rapid blows that Ardeth struck.

A sound… a sound that was out of place in the midst of a battle between warriors alone…. the sound of a woman in distress caught Ardeth's attention.Maintaining his guard, he turned his head to see a young woman scrambling to her feet, looking in horror at the dead man in front of her.She screamed again, and turned to run as the ululating Tuareg rode at her.If he was going to save the girl he would have to act quickly.He turned back in time to see the warrior he was fighting also look and nodding, struck quickly, taking the man's head clean off his shoulders.

He sheathed his blade and without pausing swung himself back up into the saddle and pulled the horse's head around, and set off quickly on a path that would intercept the fleeing woman.

**

Meirionnydd almost couldn't breathe and her heart beat so fiercely in her chest she thought it would burst.She glanced over her shoulder to see the Tuareg warrior merely feet away from her.He had only to reach down and he would have her.

A blur, little more than the shadow of black against the darkness streaked in from the side.She felt the hard impact of an arm around her waist and then her feet left the ground and she was thrown over the neck of a horse, where she lay, winded for a second, then almost crazy with terror she started to struggle against the restraining arm that held her in place as she was bumped and jostled against the animal.

"Ehadee ant beamman elaan!"

"Let me go!" she screamed."Put me down!"The horse did not slow at all, and she still bumped against its neck and wriggled against the restraining hand.

"You are safe!"The man spoke again, this time in English.The accent was heavy, the r rolled, but the voice held a quality of strength that conveyed the truth of his words, and his ability to make those words true in the face of any danger.

"Please, you're hurting me."Repeated battering against her stomach and chest was beginning to take its toll, she felt like she would be bruised for weeks and she was still terrified.The hand shifted against her back and grabbed her robe and night dress and she was pulled upright.An arm darted quickly around the side of her body and pulled her backwards before she could topple from the horse, backwards against a warm strong body.

That thought disturbed her and she started to struggle again."No..!" she moaned and started pushing against him.

"Stop it!" He started to pull back on the reins.She could feel the horse slow beneath the two of them."I am not going to hurt you."

"Then let me go!" she grabbed his hands and tried to pull them from around her and got herself all tangled up in the reins, still in his right hand.Extremely sensitive to the extra pressure on the reins, the horse reared.Meirionnydd let out a shrill scream in shock and clutched at his arms again, this time to try and stay _on the horse._

Behind her and around her she felt his muscles bunch as he took control, totally ignoring that her fingernails must have been digging into the backs of his hands, he pulled her nearer into his body and leaned forward slightly, releasing the tension on the reins and pulling the horse around at the same time.So that when the horse finally came down, they were facing the other direction.

Without a word, he kicked the horse into motion and Meirionnydd was thrown forward against his restraining arm as they rode back toward the camp, where the battle was all but over.

They passed the Tuareg warrior that had been chasing her… dead now, blood oozing from a gash across his neck and shoulder.Meirionnydd turned her face aside, and was embarrassed to find, a moment later when she recovered from the shock of seeing the second ever dead body in her life, that she had buried it against the shoulder of the warrior that now held her on his horse.

The robes were soft against her cheek and smelled of warm sand, but pressed so close to the man, she felt her stomach lurch as she realised the too familiar scent of sandalwood, and perhaps also the hint of something a little more of a floral – she couldn't place what… but it was the combination of all those things – together with a spicy masculine musk, like warm cinnamon that had her try to suddenly push herself away from where he held her tightly.It was all too familiar and all far too real and stirred the beginnings of emotion that were too strong and close to the way she had felt in some of her visions, that hot on the heels of the shock of everything that had happened, she just could not cope.She fought back the tears that were rising in her eyes again.

Another rider reined in beside them and they spoke in rapid Arabic, all too quick for her to follow and even hope to pick out any familiar words.The man that held her stiffened, and once more kicked the horse into motion.Surprised, she yelped, and this time threw an arm around his waist to stop herself from falling, sitting across the horse as she was.

If the warrior even noticed, he did or said nothing to show it. She glanced up at his face, but he was veiled and it was too dark to see the shadows that were his eyes.For just a second she got the urge to reach up and pull at his veil… wanting to see his face.She fought it back, instead whispered, "Medjai…You're Medjai."

She hadn't meant for him to hear, but he did and answered, "Na'am – yes.We are Medjai."There was no time for him to say anything more.They had reached the centre of the camp where the rest of the Medjai warriors were waiting for them.He swung himself down off the horse and reached up to help her down.Without even thinking about what she was doing, she slipped her hands onto his shoulders as his closed around her waist and he lifted her effortlessly to the ground.He did not, however let her go, but turned to one of the men nearby.

"Eetani bel fatat. Abqiha fee aman!"She felt her arm taken almost gently and she was pulled away from the warmth of the man that had rescued her, who only then, let go of her.

**

"They must have known you were watching," Ardeth found Rashid in amongst the men and in spoke in annoyance, not at Rashid, but at the turn of events."This was a diversion.Take Ghalib, Bahir and Essam… Raze this place to the ground!Then make toward Cairo.Wait for us at the Malyami Oasis."Mentally he cursed himself again for his stupidity, stupidity that had allowed him to fall foul of what should have been an easily spotted blind.

"What about the girl?"Rashid asked quietly.

"Make sure she is safe.I will talk to her when I return and then take her to the O'Connells.They will look after her."Ardeth glanced over to where she was held lightly by Ghalib.She was unmoving, except for the slight tremors he could see – no doubt from the cold, as he knew how little she was wearing from when he had held her._Probably in shock, he thought, shaking his head to stop himself from going any further in __that particular direction."Give her something to eat, and in Allah's name, find her something warm to wear."He finally looked away from the tiny, slight young woman – he hadn't time to think of all the problems she might bring to the equation; what her presence here might mean.He had to get to Hamunaptra."The rest of you… with me!"He swung himself back up onto the back of his horse._

**

Obviously sensing its master's anxiousness, the horse danced in a circle under the warrior as he mounted the Arabian.She watched transfixed as he brought the animal back under control.

"You will be safe with my men."She jumped when he spoke to her and felt the Medjai behind her tighten his grip on her arm."They will give you something to eat and find you warmer clothes."

She blushed as he mentioned her state of undress.There was no real reason for her to do so, she was decently covered after all, but the thought that he had obviously noticed how cold she felt all of a sudden made her feel profoundly uncomfortable.Grasping the two edges of the tan robe she had on she pulled them together and wrapped it around her, still watching the warrior – no… leader… she corrected herself – as he gave his men a moment to mount.

"Yallah, nimshe!"

It was an impressive sight, watching the eight Medjai warriors thunder away and for several moments she got lost in it until her Medjai guardian tugged on her arm.All around her the Medjai were destroying the camp… removing all trace of its existence from the centre out.

"You?" The Medjai beside her gestured to the few tents remaining standing on the outskirts of the camp and she realised that he was asking her which of them was hers.She pointed a hand that shook at the small canvass triangle that had been her home and her jail for the past several weeks.

He walked her swiftly over toward it, and then pointed at her night dress, where the robe had come open.Extremely self conscious, she tugged the robe closed again.He pointed to the tent and fixed her with a patient stare, then when she didn't move, speaking to her softly in single word Arabic sentences – as perhaps one would to a child – he reached a hand to tug at the collar of the robe, and mimed the action of being cold.He wanted her to change… to get dressed, she realised.

"Oh right," she smiled."Yes, all right, I'll just be a…" she broke off as another of the Medjai came walking past, it was Rashid. Her heart lurched again in panic.The others didn't know."Oh my god, listen to me," she put an urgent hand in the middle of the Medjai warriors chest.He looked down at the hand."No, you have to listen – there's something very important that I need to tell you."

"La afham," he said and shook his head and when she did not remove the hand from the front of his robe he tugged on her sleeve to pull her hand away.

"No, please… it's important.It's about Rashid."

"Rashid?" he frowned in confusion and then suspicion as he turned toward the man."Rashid!" he called.

"No, don't…" she backed off a little as Rashid came to the warrior's side and the two of them spoke rapidly together.

"Perhaps I should keep you by my side." Rashid turned to her with a smile that was less that savoury, "Since you obviously have so much trouble understanding what my companion here has told you to do, and he doesn't understand much English and speaks even less."

She paled, she didn't want to be trapped with the man who once had promised he would do all in his power to help her, but who now behaved little better than the other bullies in Anton's employ."No… no I understand perfectly," she told him."He wants me to get dressed."

"Then why are you still standing there?" Rashid answered, taking a step forward.

She backed off again, her back now against the doorway of the tent."You know, they aren't stupid, they'll figure it out sooner or later!"She yelped as he suddenly grasped her arm.

"They will not," he said in a measured and threatening way."Now will you change, or do I have to come in there and change you myself?"

"I can manage." She pulled her arm from his, and ducked inside the tent, listening to the sounds of him speaking more with the other Medjai.As she changed into the only other clothes she had… a long, loose skirt and thick cotton blouse, and slipped the robe back onto the top for protection against the desert cold, she began to wonder why it was that Rashid didn't just… kill her or something.Eventually she came to a horrifying conclusion… either Anton wanted her back… or he wanted her.Either way it was just as bad.

_Perhaps one of the others speaks better English, she hoped as she emerged, now dressed, from the tent._

She gasped in shock as she looked around.Where the camp had been only moments before there was nothing but empty desert that looked eerily red, as though truly washed in blood in the light of the rising sun.Her Medjai guardian quickly dismantled her tent as she stood transfixed by the emptiness… even the traces of the bodies were gone… everything gone as though it had never existed… all barring the horses and they had been gathered and tied together behind on of the other Medjai's horses.

She looked down at herself and cursed her bad luck.If only she had better clothes, she could have ridden, she could have…

"Taaly hona!"She looked up at the sound of the voice speaking to her in Arabic.Her guardian had mounted his horse and has holding out his hand to her."Come."Hesitantly she approached and took his hand.He slipped his other hand under her arm and pulled her up in front of him, circling his arms around her he took the reins of his horse, and she found herself once more riding in the company of a Medjai warrior.


	7. Hamunaptra

Power Is 7

Chapter 7 

Jonathan thought he'd walked into the site of an explosion.Numbered pieces of paper littered the walls and floor; some held in place with rocks or sticks… anything that would keep them from flying about as his sister wandered back and forth between the walls – reading and making notes in a small book she carried.She was so engrossed that she didn't notice him.

"Evie?" he called to her softly, not wanting to startle her.

"Jonathan!" she turned and picked her way between the papers to come and take his arm."This is amazing! Come and look…" she started to pull him forward, giving him frequent admonitions not to disturb the three days hard work that she had so far put in on trying to decipher the walls.

"Is it making any more sense?" he asked, gesturing toward the wall.He dislodged a piece of paper that fluttered toward the ground.

"Jonathan!"Evie let go of his arm and rushed to catch the falling piece of paper and push it back into its rightful place.He watched her, smiling fondly as she went about doing what she did best – what made her happiest."Do be careful would you!"

"Sorry, Old Mum."He waited for her to finish rearranging the disturbed papers."So?"

She turned around and fixed him with such a look of wide eyed excitement that he couldn't help but grin in return."I think this is some kind of religious text… one that's been undiscovered for thousands of years.Just imagine it Jonathan… bits of this corresponds with things from the other two books," he smiled as she avoided naming them, "but seems to go _beyond what's written there.Like adding footnotes."_

His smile faded as he thought of the notion of anything adding footnotes to the spells and charms in the Book of the Dead, or even the Book of Amun Ra, come to that.

"But does it make sense?" he asked.

"And then this bit here…"She grabbed his arm and pulled him carefully over to the far wall, where some of the hieroglyphics and hieratic text had been obscured."It looks like someone tried to destroy parts of the text… but the bits they left – I think this part was very, very sacred to someone and, and that perhaps they thought it was blasphemous to have it written."She stood up and then pulled him back across the chamber, taking him in a pattern that dodged some more of the paper trail.She pointed to a section of hieratic "And then here… this seems to be some kind of ancient prophesy."

"Prophesy?" he felt all the hairs on the back of his neck stand up."Evie…you remember what Rick was saying, about waiting for Ardeth to get back before we went and disturbed any of this stuff…"

"Oh fiddle-faddle Jonathan!" she snapped, "I do wish the two of you would stop going on about that."

"Well it just that he _is the "it is written" guy, and supposing you finally read that section and it says something like," he put on his best prophesy voice and continued, "__The best friend and brother of whomsoever reads this text shall die a horrible and painful slow death at the hands of the great god.."_

"For goodness sake!" Evie nudged him, irritation written all over her face."Even if it did, it would still say that same things whether Ardeth was here or not.Where's the difference?"

"Well if I'm going to be coming face to face with any "great god" whatshisnames, I'd rather have Ardeth with us.You might have noticed, but he's kind of handy to have around when you have a spot of bother."He gave her his best helpless smile and watched the frown lines straighten out of her forehead, and her face soften into a gentle smile.

"Don't worry, big brother." She wrapped her arms around him and he brought his hands to cradle her against him, rocking from side to side."I won't let you fall foul of any kind of ancient prophesy."

"So does it?" he asked after many long minutes.

"What?" Evie looked up at him.

"Make sense."

Her smile turned into a pout and she pulled away from him and went to stand near a very small, central dais that, apart from the gems and gold in the pictures was the only other thing in the room."I don't know," she said sadly."I don't think I've read enough of it yet."

She turned away and he shoulders slumped.Jonathan knew how she felt.He'd seen that body language from her so many times and wanted to bring her comfort, but he couldn't shake the fact that he felt is was probably for the best anyway.He walked up to stand behind her on the opposite side of the dais and leaned forward.

"Don't worry Evie, I…"

Without any warning, the floor beneath him fell away.He scrambled to keep a hold on the edge of the dais, calling out for Evie, but his reactions were not fast enough and he slid down into the hole.He landed hard and the wind was knocked from his lungs, and from above he heard his sister's frantic cries, before the trap door in the rock snapped shut, cutting out all sound, and all the light from above.

**

They swept forward into the City like a shadow, lengthening toward evening, each one alert, each one with his rifles trained on the invaders that might have been lurking behind toppled pillars or badly disturbed piles of sand.

The months of wind and desert weather had eradicated all trace of the dig that had ended with Imhotep's incarceration at Ahm Shere.Yes another place to be watched, and for the same good reason as always.The sand at Hamunaptra was flattened once more; smooth as though never a living soul had walked it hallowed grounds.

Ardeth shivered.There was always an eerie silence in that place, made more so by the fact of that silence only ever being broken by screams of battle, pain and death.

"Check the grounds," he ordered, dismounting from his horse and lashing it to a nearby rock."And see that the City remains unopened."And then he set off briskly for the outer wall of the City of the Dead… knowing exactly where he was going… for he had been there before.

_Behind him O'Connell and the Englishman were still scrabbling for the Book of Amun Ra when the unthinkable happened.He pulled the trigger of the elephant gun, and nothing came but an empty sounding and potentially deadly click.The passageway ahead was swarming with mummies.He had no choice – his duty was clear._

__

_He turned his head to lock his eyes with the American."Save the girl.Kill the creature," he turned back and wielding the gun like a club and with a fierce cry he ran toward the shuffling undead._

__

_They quickly surrounded him, bony fingers pinching and tearing at his robes.He swung the butt of the gun into the face of a mummy that was reaching with talon like fingers for his eyes, it fell back and he was able to follow, distracting some of the creatures away from the two men now struggling to lift the sacred book of Amun Ra.Damned fool adventurers… he hissed in pain as one of the mummies grabbed him by the arms, its fingers digging into his muscles while another slashed at his chest.If this went on for much longer, they would tear him to pieces, and where then would be the chance for O'Connell to do what he now could not.He struggled to free himself, and hold back another of the undead creatures at the same time._

__

_"What are you waiting for?"he yelled at the other two men."Get out!GET. OUT!"_

__

_He could not have anticipated what happened next… with one of the mummies gnawing on his hand, through the pain and the sound of his own heart pumping, he heard a familiar fizzing sound.Just as the bony rotting and diseased creatures were about to pull him down, overwhelming him in their number the dynamite exploded._

__

_Heat rolled up his back as the explosion propelled him forward, tearing his hand from the mouth of the undead as several of them were blown apart.Acting purely on instinct, he pushed and kicked the remaining creatures into the flames, before a section of the ceiling came down and buried them.Falling rock struck his head, and dazed he stumbled toward a light he could see in the distance, beginning to feel more pain as the adrenaline wore away._

__

He shuddered as he remembered that pain… he hadn't even been aware of the blow on the head until he stumbled out into the relentless sun and the fallen, half buried pillars of the temple had started spinning around him.He remembered fighting not to lose consciousness – that would have killed him – and off balance, stumbling around in the city trying to find shade and shelter, so that he could deal with this wounds.

And then the voice… the same cool breeze that he had heard once before calling to him, drawing him to safety… 

_"Hush, my child… Soul of my heart..." soft hands brushed against his forehead.He wasn't sure, but he thought he felt lips kiss gently where he hands had brushed his hair away from the ache in his brow.He felt his knees weaken and growled to try and push away the weakness."All is well, my love," the voice whispered as the hands became strong arms that supported him down and laid him back gently on the cool, smooth marble of a floor._

__

_"No…" he protested, no longer the acquiescent young man he had been in the time before."Who are you?"_

__

_"I am the beauty of the green oasis," she soothed, unfastening his robe and pulling his arms from the sleeves.Somehow he was unable to move."And the white moon among the stars… She that is with you… She that watches over you but is yet to come."_

__

_"You speak in riddles," he moaned as she pressed a cool wet cloth against the scratches on his chest… and upper arms._

__

_"I speak as one other than yourself – yet so much a part of you that you and I are incomplete apart."She leaned down to press a gentle kiss against the sacred marks on his chest."And I have told you… I will always be with you – here."_

__

_He opened his eyes and for a long time stared into the face of the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.Her blunt cut hair was long and dark; her lashes curled to frame the shining stars that were her dark eyes reflecting the sun, her lips were the red of the desert sunsets and her skin burnished gold, but for a moment he thought he saw her in another face… her beauty clearly there, but hidden behind the pain in her eyes…_

__

_"I can't," he denied her, but she still smiled._

__

_"You will… for it is written."_

He'd woken some time later, never understanding how it was that the injury to his hand had been cleaned and dressed.He had only a vague memory of a woman… like one of the temple paintings come to life.It must have been a dream… a product of his delirium.

He took a deep breath as he reached the place by the wall, mostly hidden behind a group of jutting boulders, where he had emerged on that day and ran his eyes over the rock hollow as though he would be able to tell if another living soul had passed this way.He sighed when he saw nothing and, taking another deep breath, started down the few small steps.

The coolness enveloped him at once, and he paused to let his eyes adjust to the change in light.The small shrine was just as he remembered it… the kneeling figure of Usert, her arms outstretched and winged watched over the chamber.He walked closer; feeling somehow unsure… and an almost tangible essence of something not right… something not at rest…

Even before he saw the panel that had been prized away from the image of the pillow on which she knelt he knew that they were come too late.For just a fleeting moment, he felt a brief flare of panic…

_One thing I can tell you about the journey you face…_

… before he took a steadying breath, turned and walked back the way he had come.So be it, if that must be; if such were the will of Allah then he would see the journey through… and hope that it would be enough.

His men were waiting for him when he returned to the horses.He could tell by their faces that they had found nothing out of place… that the City itself remained undisturbed.

"We are too late," he told them."We must return, and quickly. I had hoped it would not come to this, but now there are many preparations to be made."

**

"RICK!"

At the sound of panic in Evie's voice Rick came running, scattering her papers to the four corners of the small chamber at the rear of the shrine as he skidded to a halt.The two Medjai behind him doing exactly the same.

"What is it?Honey, what's wrong?"His eyes ran quickly over her from head to foot, checking for injuries and seeing nothing, checking the floor for snakes and scorpions.

"Jonathan!" she wailed, and he couldn't understand why she was pulling at the side of the dais in the centre of the room."One minute he was standing here and the next he'd gone…"

"Gone?What do you mean, gone?" he asked, coming to her side and prizing her away from the dais.

"Just that," she implored him with the tone in her voice and the look on her face and he felt helpless."He disappeared, Rick…I don't know where he's gone."

He wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly."We'll find him, Evie," he gestured with his eyes to the two Medjai, who began a systematic search of the chamber as he held his distraught wife.

"Where was he standing?" he asked.

"I don't know," she pointed vaguely in the direction of the dais, "Somewhere there… there I think."

"You think?"Rick watched as Mahmoud and Tarek looked all the way around the top of the dais, trying to find any clues.

"I was facing away from him at the time."She pulled out of his arms and went to stand where she had been before Jonathan had suddenly called out for her help. "Like this…"

"And he was talking to you right?" he asked.

"Yes he sounded as though he got closer."

"Like this?"Rick walked toward the dais, which the Medjai were still examining.Finally he came to stand on the opposite side from Evie as she turned around, "Then what happened."

"I don't know." She was almost crying with frustration and Rick hated it.Once again he gestured to the two Medjai to get them to examine the dais again.Evie continued, "I told you, I was facing the other way."

Rick sighed at the look on her face, worry and anguish all rolled into one.He leaned forward, his hands finding the edges of the dais.

"Whoa!"Suddenly the ground under his feet shifted and then fell away and but for the lightening reactions of Mahmoud, who reached out and caught his arm, would have done more than just teetered on the edge of the opening revealed by the trap door.

**

He lay there for a long time before he dared to get up, besides which, he was winded and it hurt to move… that was HIS excuse anyway.It was, he insisted to himself, nothing to do with the fact that a strange eerie light seemed to be coming from the very walls of the chamber into which he had fallen.

It was a murky kind of diffuse light, as if it were being filtered through water."Phew!" he said aloud when he had caught his breath, "And stagnant water at that.What is that God-awful smell?"

He rolled over and put first his knees, and then his feet under him, deciding he was probably fit to do a little exploring.He harboured a thought that maybe he shouldn't stray too far from the opening, in case someone came looking for him, but it was only fleeing.The eternal adventurer within him was pulling at his insides making him wander to examine the carvings that reached out of the walls toward him.He suddenly wished he had a torch.

He walked closer, toward one particular carving.It looked like a strange kind of deer, or antelope. _I know this! He thought, irritated at himself.He knew it was relevant somehow… important.Unable to help himself, he reached out a hand toward the creature, whose head, after all, appeared to be coated in, if not carved from gold._

_Har-ya Suti…_

Jonathan leaped back in fright at the carving moved and the words in Ancient Egyptian echoed around the walls and through his mind.He stopped when he collided with a small plinth, and then spun round at a creaking sound.

Atop the plinth a huge set of gold scales started to move, the pan that was raised slowly lowering as though he had put something heavy inside it.The gold chains holding the pans rattled as they moved and on the way down, brushed a second set of scales on another nearby plinth.They knocked a third, and they a fourth all down the line of plinths toward the end of the chamber.

Still shaken by the voices he had heard, Jonathon could only look on in horror as the scales all tilted back and forth.And then the rumbling began….

**

"What the…!"Rick grabbed at a nearby supporting pillar, and then grasped Evie round the waist as the ground began to shake.

"Rick, we've got to help Jonathan!" she cried.

He glanced at Tarek, who was looking in worry at the ceiling in the shrine.The Medjai turned to him and above the escalating noise from all around them he yelled, "Get her out of here!"

"I'm not going anywhere!" she shouted back."If you think I'm going to let you take me out of here just because of something your precious Ardeth said…" Rick looked at her in astonishment."He's my _brother!"_

""Mrs O'Connell, please… you cannot take the risk…" Tarek appealed with her.

"I am NOT leaving!" she tore herself away from Rick and pushed at the Medjai that was all but imploring her to leave.She started back toward the dais in amongst the falling dust and debris from the ceiling.

"Evie, no!" Rick panicked as he watched a crack appearing in the ceiling.He launched himself at her, and caught her around the waist again.With a sound like thunder, a huge chunk of the ceiling fell free and plunged toward where Rick stood struggling with his wife.

"O'Connell!" Rick turned at the sound of Tarek's warning and bodily lifted Evie toward the side of the shrine, then covered her with his body as they were showered with chunks of rock and sand.

**

Jonathan lost his balance and fell to his knees as the shaking and trembling started, and then wrapped his arms around his head when, one by one, the carved panels began to tumble from the walls into smashed and broken heaps on the ground, revealing the smooth obsidian panels that reflected the sickly light that Jonathan realised was coming from the scales, back at him, like dark mirrors.

Eventually everything went quiet, and Jonathan dared to raise his head."Oh… my…"Where the carvings had been was nothing but seemingly featureless black walls, unrelieved black that somehow drew the eye to the area at the far end of the chamber.

The light from the scales concentrated there, revealing a _huge statue made of… Jonathan swallowed as his feet took him closer to the statue and he saw that it was not "made" of anything at all.There were no tool marks, the statue was in perfect condition and was so lifelike that it looked as though someone had just poured molten rock and gold and gems onto a living person.No not person, he corrected his thoughts… It made him shudder… this person had the head of one of those antelope creatures, (he did so wish he could remember what they were called), whose carving had started the cascade by making him disturb the scales._

In its hand the statue held a Sunstone in the shape of a heart, and crystal teardrops ran in strings off the heart.In the other hand was a huge sword, the blade was of gold, the handle and pommel of the same obsidian that made the walls of the chamber.Around the wrists of the statue bracers of gold adorned with serpents and crocodiles dominated the deep tan coloured rock, and on its chest was a breast plate of the same shining gold, and bearing the horned creature framed in serpents and hieroglyphics.

"Oh my God, what a find!" Mesmerised by the treasure seeker within Jonathan stepped closer and boldly ran his fingers over the statue.The breastplate rattled under his fingers, rattling against a necklace that he hadn't previously seen.Gingerly, he lifted it off, having to strain and actually lean against the statue to reach high enough to get it over the beast-headed man's horns.

It felt solid in his hand, and heavy.He looked down to study its serpentine shape.Gold shapes swirled over the surface of the necklace which was once more made of the same dark stone as the walls and the pommel of the sword.He felt the tiny symbols carved onto its surface and thought he would like some proper light to see them by, to see what it was he had discovered.

_Har-ya Suti… Har-ya Suti… _

A shiver went down his spine as the same voice whispered over and over, the same phrase, "Har-ya Suti," he whispered, trying to rattle through his foggy brains to come up with the meaning of the Ancient Egyptian words."Bring…?Come…?Awake?"

_Ah what did it matter anyway? The thought came unbidden into his mind, washing away his unease and he smiled to himself.From finding hardly anything at all his whole life, to suddenly making a huge find like this… he felt very pleased with himself._

"Jonathan?"The voice, Rick's voice, echoing through the chamber made him jump… caught like a guilty schoolboy and he knew that Evie would never let him keep his wonderful find.He slipped the necklace over his head and quickly pushed it inside his shirt.Something inside him wondered at what he thought he was doing.

"Jonathan!"Rick yelled again, this time more urgently.

"I'm all right," he called back.

"Stay were you are, I'm coming down,"

Seconds later, Jonathan had to shield his eyes as the burning torch landed on the floor and the light bounced of the highly polished walls.When he looked up, Rick was standing in front of him, torch in hand, looking at him in concern.

"Are you all right?" Rick asked.

"I… I think so.Got a bit winded in the fall but…" he shrugged, actually feeling more relieved than he had thought he would be only a moment ago.

"What the hell happened here?" Rick looked all around and now that there was some decent light, he could see the mess that the fallen carvings had made.

"I erm…I rather think it's my fault actually." Jonathan said sheepishly. "I bumped into something in the dark," he thought it better not to say anything about getting scared of a little carving, "and then there was a load of shaking."

"And who's this guy?" Rick gestured to the statue with the torch.

"Some god or other I expect," he answered, feeling more than a little uncomfortable.

"Jonathan?" The note of suspicion in Rick's voice was unmistakeable, "What did you do?"

"Nothing," Jonathan lied."I told you, I accidentally bumped into those things and then, whumph!" he waved his arms up and down like falling panels.

"And you didn't touch this guy?" Rick asked again.

"No."

"And nothing _on this guy?" _

"No, nothing." Jonathan lied again.

"You sure?"

"Look, Rick…I might _look stupid, but really…I'm the one here in favour of your plan to wait for Ardeth to get back before we go messing around in here."He turned and paced away from Rick before turning back around to face him."In case you've forgotten I fell in here by accident… could have broke my bloody neck or died of asphyxiation while I waited for you to find a way in to get me out…"_

"All right, all right…" Rick waved a hand at him."Evie's going out of her mind with worry up there.Muttering something about promises and prophesies.So the sooner I get you up there the better."

"Rick, is she all right?" Jonathan asked as they waked back to the rope that hung down from the now ruined trap door."She has been acting awfully strange."

**

Meirionnydd jumped and then scrambled backwards as the doorway to her tent was pushed open and the black robes of her latest captor came into sight.She had no doubt it was Rashid, after three days of desperate avoidance she could tell his footsteps.He always seemed to find an excuse to come and spend some time with her though and it was always alone – something that she was becoming increasingly aware was unacceptable, judging by the reactions of the other Medjai in their small party.

She wished she could speak their language… or that one of them could speak better English.She so desperately needed to tell someone about Rashid, because she didn't know how much longer she could hold him off.

"Ghalib tells me that you refused to eat," he said and caught hold of her skirt to stop her from moving away from him any more.He knelt down on the edge of it.

"I just wasn't hungry," she said, trying not to panic."Let go please."

He did the opposite.He reached out a lightning fast hand to grasp her by the scruff of the neck and pull her closer.Automatically she brought her hands up between them to push at his shoulders.It took all her strength.

"How much longer will you play this game with me, little girl!" he said, sounding horribly reminiscent of the demoness that had perverted his pure Medjai heart.

"Rashid, please…" she gasped as he shifted his grasp to her upper arms and started, in spite of her trying to push him away, to pull her closer."This isn't who you are!"

"You don't know what I can be!" he answered, then leaning right into her face, his lips right beside hers he growled, "But I can show you."

"Rashid…" Closer to tears than ever before, she pushed even harder against his chest, then as his lips brushed against the corner of her lips she whispered, "No."

"Don't fight me woman!"

"This isn't what you want!" she cried as his lips descended onto her neck.In desperation she did the only thing she could think of and dug her fingernails into his cheek.He roared with the sudden pain and pulling back, delivered a backhanded slap to the side of her face so hard that she thought her head might come clean off her shoulders.She sobbed aloud and scrambled away when he let her go.

"You will keep!" he told her menacingly, and without another word turned and stalked from the tent.She heard him bark some very angry sounding Arabic at one of the others.Feeling thoroughly miserable she curled up on the few meagre skins that made her bed, and sobbed until her throat was sore.

She didn't even look up when the tent opened again and Ghalib said, "Eat!"

All she could do was lie on the floor and cry.It was as if a damn had burst and even after crying so hard for so long, she still felt as though she were drowning.This was no life, to constantly live in fear like this.She had exchanged one prison for another one, and at least Anton had not tried to… to…

She pushed the thought away from her head and crawled to the now cold food.With a huge sigh, she made her decision.As soon as it was dark, she would try to escape.Nothing that could happen… not even dying out in the desert could be worse than this.

**

Anton locked his eyes with Anck-Su-Namun's.They had travelled swiftly away from the ruins of Hamunaptra, not bothering to go back toward their previous camp site, sure that the attacking Medjai would have destroyed it completely.They had other things to consider, other items to collect before he could achieve his aim.

He sighed a little at the thought of Meirionnydd caught in the crossfire, then even more when he thought what would be happening if she had not died in the attack… the things that the creature in front of him now had told Rashid he could do.

"What are you waiting for?" Anck-Su-Namun demanded harshly."You've wanted this for years."She held out her hand toward him.

Hesitantly, Anton handed over first the handle, and then the cradle of the sistrum.The bells he kept safe for himself, for now.He watched in growing excitement as she fit the pieces together, almost able to feel the buzz of power that began to flow through the sacred item to infuse the air around the two of them.

"Oh yes…" he breathed as she held up the assembled item – now all it needed was the bells.

"Isn't it beautiful?" Even Anck-Su-Namun's eyes shone brightly with excitement.She mimed shaking the sistrum, and her eyes widened.Anton, too, felt the shift in the atmosphere around them, and that was even before it had the bells attached.As though she knew what he was thinking Anck-Su-Namun snapped."Give them to me!"

Cautiously, he handed over five of the six bells and saw Anck-Su-Namun face crease into an amused smile.Slowly, one by one she fitted them into place."I think it's sweet you still don't trust me.After all I've done for you… after…" she stopped and frowned a deeper frown than Anton had ever seen on her face.

"What is it?"

"IDIOT!" she screamed at him.Anton actually stood and backed up quickly as her anger was amplified by the power of the partly assembled sistrum.The anger screamed into the silence, buzzing like bees around his head, starting to make him feel light headed and weak.He shook his head and gripped the bell he still held – the one that had summoned the creature – tightly in his hand.The groggy feeling started to fade."How could you be so _careless?"_

"What are you talking about, witch!"

In the next second, Anton felt the unthinkable…Anck-Su-Namun raised the hand holding the sistrum as though he were standing close enough for her to hit him.His feet left the ground and he flew across the temporary camp to land with a bounce against the sides of one of the smaller tents.He tried to scramble to his feet, but before he could, a hand clamped around his throat, and lifted him until his feet dangled off the floor.

"_You will not speak to me in such a way again… minion!"Her voice resonated loudly and rolled over the nearby landscape to stir the desert sands around their feet.Sound bubbled and boiled in his ears until it was almost painful, as thought it pushed its way into his head."__Give it to me!"_

Even though he fought, his hand holding the bell lifted.His muscles screamed in protest. He thought his heart was going to stop with the effort of trying to resist the command, but still he held the bell out toward Anck-Su-Namun.

She snatched it from his fingers and then he was dropped unceremoniously to the sand, where he lay, clutching his bruised throat and fighting to get breath into his tortured lungs.

"_Did you honestly think you would be able to control me?I've lived for thousands of years, little man!Seen more pain and suffering that you could even imagine, and still you claim to know me, to call to me in supplication!"_

Shaking, he lay on the ground and watched as Anck-Su-Namun fitted the bell into place in one of the two vacant spaces on the cradle and suddenly he understood what had sparked such anger.There was still one bell he had not found.He scrambled to his knees.

"Forgive me… majesty… Great One," he stammered.He found himself hoping that Meirionnydd had survived the onslaught on the camp."We'll find the girl.She'll tell us where to find it."

"You better had, little man."Anck-Su-Namun, fully herself again now walked over wearing an amused smile."I don't want to have to kill you…Yet."

**

She lay awake starting at the ceiling of the tent.Even though it was quiet outside she knew it was still too early for the Medjai to have retired for the night.They kept late hours and at least one of them would on the outskirts of their camp, keeping watch for any danger.

"But the real danger is _inside the camp," she whispered into the dark._

Some time later she jerked awake.Cursing herself for having fallen asleep she got up as quietly as she could and pulled on her boots.Then she wrapped herself in the robe she had against the cold of the desert, and took up the knife she had been supplied with in order to eat her meal.Carefully she sliced the canvass of the tent just enough to crawl through into the cold night air.

It was a risk, a big risk she was taking, she knew it.Each step she took out toward the open desert felt like a mile, her heart leaped at how loud her footsteps sounded and she expected any moment to be intercepted by on of the towering Medjai… or worse, by Rashid himself.

Each time she took a step and nothing happened she offered silent thanks to a God in which she did not believe.Each ten and she almost wanted to fall down and kiss the sand in recognition of her growing freedom.When she had been walking for what she thought was probably an hour she let out a little sob.She had to be beyond the reach of the Medjai now.She picked up her skirts and started to run.

**

_Rashid, my little dog, wake up…_

His eyes came open and he sat up at once, glancing around to make sure none of the others had heard the voice that had sounded so loudly in his ears.

Essam and Bahir still slept peacefully.Ghalib was unseen, which he took to be a good sign, since he was supposed to be watching over the camp.

_Bring her to me… your little toy._

He snorted as he climbed to his feet and fingered the angry red scratch on the side of his face.With an angry snarl he set off in the direction of the girl's tent.He'd have her before he took her back.No woman treated him the way she had and got away with it.

He knew at once that something was wrong as soon as he pulled back the doorway of the tent.Then he saw she wasn't there.He cursed roughly and called the camp to wake, taking time out to chastise Ghalib for his failure on watch.Then he led his horse around to the other side of the tent, where he found her footprints, still mostly visible in the packed sand nearby the edge of the Oasis where they had set her tent.He sent the other three out roughly in the right direction, but followed the path of those footprints himself, and the fast disappearing trail of her dragged feet when the sand turned to dunes, where they were visible to his sensitive eyes in the starlight.

**

She would never have thought it would be so hard to walk and make any real progress.She had long since given up running, her legs and her lungs ached, but she knew she had to keep going.Tripping on her skirt, she fell and started to tumble down the side of a large dune.

_Strong arms around her… the sudden nature of his embrace took them both off balance and sending them both spinning off, to lie breathless at the foot of the dune._

"Please, God not now," she whined, trying to shake her head to clear away the vision.

_Gentle hands, firm hands, taking something from her own, which felt like claws… a pain so deep rising in her chest that it was impossible to breathe."E__hdaaee alaan, antee beamaan, ateene alsekeen."_

The answering sob of emotion rose in her chest as still she fought to hold back the visions, still pushing through in spite of having had nothing to cause them.It felt as though Anton had opened a doorway with the herbs he had given her that she now couldn't close, no matter how hard she tried.

She put back her head and called into the night sky. "Leave me alone!"

_The tent swam up before her tear filled eyes.Her feet like lead, took her step after step toward the yawning triangular oblivion that was the doorway._

A horse reared before her and she fell back screaming.Even before she'd got her feet back under her he had swung his legs from the animal and wound her hair around his hand, to drag her further into the shelter between the dunes.

"No woman runs from me!" he slapped her hard and she bit her lip.She fought him, scrabbling to get her hands between them as she had before.Frantically she pushed against him, slapping at his face and chest as his weight and the hand in her hair bore her backwards onto the sand.

The sudden impact drove the air from her lungs and as her lips opened to let out the gasp he kissed her hard, plundering her mouth with his tongue.She pushed against him… even pulled at the back of his robes but nothing would move him.

"Please, God… Rashid, don't!" She tried to burrow into the sand to put some distance between them."You don't want this.NO!" she knew her blouse had torn by the rush of cold air against her flesh, and the rough, calloused touch of his hand."This isn't who you are!YOU ARE MEDJAI!"He slapped her again, hard enough to stun her as she hit her head on the sand."Medjai…" she whimpered.

The rhythmic beat of horses' hooves on sand vibrated though her, and then came relief from the pressing, suffocating weight over her."Get up!"

She couldn't move.Still stunned and terrified, sitting in the sand, her skirts half raised, she whispered, "Rashid, please listen to what your heart is telling yo…" Another backhand slap silenced her as she bit her lip again.He grabbed her arm roughly and dragged her to her feet.Without the strength to hold herself upright, she was forced to cling to him, exhausted in sudden relief at the arrival of Ghalib and Essam.

She paid no heed to the rapid Arabic that flew between them.She was too busy holding back the inundation that threatened.

"God, no!" Panic dragged words from her heart as Rashid's hands wrapped around her waist, but moments later she felt herself wrapped in gentler arms as she was lifted up to sit in front of Ghalib on his horse.

As the Medjai set his horse in motion, she fell back against his shoulder and felt him tighten his arms more securely around her to prevent her from falling.Tears spilled from her eyes to soak his robes, and after a moment he stopped his horse, and firmly but gently pulled her away.She saw his eyes look over the length of her body and tried to turn her face back into his shoulder, to escape her shame.Even though the other warriors had arrived before Rashid could act she still felt the violation, both to herself, and to Rashid's Medjai heart.

Ghalib stopped her.Holding her chin firmly he turned her head back up so that her eyes met his.His expression was on of open query coupled with suspicion as he released her chin and brushed the tips of his fingers over her tear wet cheeks.

"Why?" he asked softly.She did not answer, not verbally anyway.She saw his eyes harden and narrow slightly, before he nodded once and lay her back against his shoulder, urging the horse forward again at a gentle walking pace.

**

_He couldn't remember the last time he had felt such anger, though he knew there had many times.The stupid desert dog had failed him.The sensations of a smile cracked his ethereal face… like most people that had failed him – he was now dead._

__

_He felt the pull of the power of it and followed, followed toward a group of travellers.She was there.He could see her; feel her… feel her essence._

__

_"Anck-Su-Namun," he said._

__

_How many times had he said that name...? How many times had he whispered it lovingly, longingly?He drifted closer and passed the spirit of his hand over her face… an oh-so-familiar gesture.He watched as she shivered as thought she felt the touch, as though she were aware of his presence…_

__

_"Oh but I will make you aware," his spirit murmured in a tone more used to being heard by those who opposed him._

**

"So how far is this dig site?" Anck-Su-Namun shivered.Anton thought it was the kind of shudder she might have made if someone had brushed past her."And how much trouble are the people on the dig going to cause?"

"They won't be any trouble." Anton answered, still more than a little wary, even though the spirit of his dark goddess seemed to have left the creature he had summoned."It will just be a slight detour on our way to the main site.You will just _love what we have uncovered so far."_

"I doubt that," she answered him sourly."Just get me that last bell, and then we will see who will love the temple and who will not."

Anton fell silent.He studied the creature from the corner of his eyes and for perhaps the eleventh time that day he wondered at the wisdom of having summoned her at all.Yes, she had provided him with the location of the arms and armour that he needed if his plan were to succeed, but she was dangerous… a wild card… unpredictable and chaotic.

"I'll get you the bell as soon as that bastard of yours brings me back my girl!" He snapped at last, tired of the attitude she had adopted now that she held the incomplete sistrum.Well she had told him to sleep lightly, now she must do the same.

"He will bring her."

"Unless the Medjai killed her first."

"They would not." Anck-Su-Namun looked at him."You know for someone who hates them so much, you really don't know much about them do you?"

"I know enough." Anton spat, "I know their bastard son-of-a-whore leader killed my father!"

"Ardeth Bay killed your father?" Anton twisted his head around suddenly to look at his creature, who sat with an evil looking smile on her face.The name was familiar… but not right… not the name in his father's journal.Perhaps he was a brother to this Ardeth, or his father perhaps.

"No." he answered.

Anck-Su-Namun shrugged."Then you are mistaken.Ardeth Bay leads the Medjai.Perhaps the one you seek is already dead."She shrugged again."Either way, your obsession with the Medjai will only bring trouble.Leave them be until we have what we need, and then I promise you…all the twelve tribes will fall under our thrall… then you can look for the one you seek and take him apart a little piece at a time."

**

He was hot, he was weary and he wanted some answers.He almost threw himself off his horse and tossed the reins to one of the others riding with him.He knew they would have to stay here for the rest of the day and the night, but he was anxious to get to Cairo, to find out if Evelyn and O'Connell had discovered any more information.The need to wait frustrated him.

Around him the reinforcements he had brought with him from his home settlement set about caring for the horses and adding their own gear to the small Medjai encampment beside the oasis.

Looking around he spotted Ghalib coming toward him. He didn't miss the purposeful stride in his warrior companion's step, but there would be time to speak after he had his answers.

"Bring the girl to me," he said as the other Medjai reached his side.

"I must speak with you, my lord." Ghalib said respectfully.

Ardeth glanced at him and saw the troubled expression in his eyes.It was so unusual for one of his men to question or even hesitate over an order, as Ghalib did now, that he almost stopped and asked that man what was on his mind, but the need for answers drove him harder."Later," he said and laid a hand onto Ghalib's arm to let him know that he had seen that there was something on the other warrior's mind."Bring the girl to me now and we will talk later."

"Is everything all right, my brother?"Ardeth half turned at the sound of Rashid's voice behind him.

"We will have a hard battle ahead of us, Rashid," he answered, "I just need whatever information the girl can give us… that is all."

"She has been… difficult." Something in Rashid's voice made Ardeth stiffen – something he had never heard before in all the years he had known the young warrior.He reached up and pulled down the covering from his face, meaning to say something to Rashid but a commotion behind to the side of him made him turn away instead to face in that direction.

Ghalib and Bahir were bringing the girl and she was fighting them every step of the way.Her hands were tied in front of her with coarse rope, but what kept the doubt in his mind about the Medjai standing behind him – and for the first time in his life he felt the urge to step away from one of his brothers – was the bruising to her face, and the dishevelled state of her clothes.

**

"Ghalib, no!"Even knowing it was futile she struggled with Ghalib and Bahir as they brought her closer to Rashid and the other Medjai, whose back was turned her way."La, Ghalib, please!"

The man speaking with Rashid turned as she pleaded with Ghalib to let her go and for a second, the world stopped turning as she came face to face with the man from her visions.Seeing him in life stole what little strength remain in her legs as she looked on the warmth in the expressive brown eyes and then took in the rest of his face, hardly believing that he was real at all.His high cheekbones where accentuated by the blue Medjai tattoos, his full lower lip framed with his neatly trimmed beard was locked in a very serious expression indeed.His brows, beneath the edge of the turban that was mostly covering his long dark locks, drew together into a frown or concern.

She flinched and whimpered as he reached a tattooed hand toward her face.It hardly felt as though he was touching her at all, and yet he turned her head first one was, and then the other as he examined the bruises on her face and neck, and the split to her lip.His hand fell away.

"Who did this to you?" he asked softly.

Meirionnydd almost swooned as his voice caressed her and wrapped her in its safety.It was rich and deep and warm.

_There is so much I want to say to you, little one…_

__

She lowered her eyes and then dropped her head forward to look at the sand at her feet.The face, the voice… the man… it was all too much for her after what had almost happened. She felt him cup her chin in his hand and once more found herself starting into his eyes.

"I asked you a question," he said patiently."Who did this?"

Involuntarily her eyes flickered over his shoulder to Rashid, still standing behind this beautiful man.His face darkened suddenly and anger flashed in his eyes.Faster than she had ever seen anyone move before he turned away from her and delivered a huge backhand slap on the momentum of the turn to Rashid's face.Rashid staggered backwards, and probably would have fallen if not for two of the other's who had started to gather nearer to the scene taking place in their midst.They took his arms firmly and held him still.

In spite of all that had happened to her, and all that had almost happened at his hand, Meirionnydd still couldn't hate him and felt tears of sorrow well up in her eyes.The beautiful one turned back toward her, turning his head on one side slightly as he did so… perhaps querying her tears… she didn't know.

"Please accept my apologies, miss," he said seriously, "You have my personal assurance that none of the men here will lay hand to you again, or they will answer to me, as will Rashid."

She gasped as he drew a knife from his belt, and flinched away slightly as he came toward her, but he merely raised her hands so that he could slip the blade carefully between her wrists and cut through the rope that tied her hands together.She rubbed her chaffed and almost bleeding wrists and he pulled the rope away and bit her lip as the pins and needles shot through her hands when the blood flow returned to her fingers.

**

He watched the discomfort on her face increase as she started to massage her fingers and guessed that the ropes must have been cutting off the circulation to her hands.He took that moment to look over her properly, for the moment ignoring the scuffles behind him, where his faithful warriors held Rashid until he could decide just what he would do with him.

She was small and slight.In fact she looked fragile, but in a very feminine kind of way – very much a woman not a child.Her long dark hair, almost as dark as his own, reached easily to her waist and was possibly longer, but for the tangles that the last few days must have put into it.Under the bruises her face, although honeyed in tone, was pale as though she had been kept from the light of the sun.He found it hard to make up his mind whether or not she was Egyptian.He took it all in at a glance, with a warrior's eyes… and he noticed something else as well that troubled him even more than the bruises on her face…

He reached out slowly, carefully, to take the collar of her torn blouse between the index and middle finger of his left hand, so that he palm was toward her and she would not mistake the touch for anything more sinister than the enquiry it carried.She stared at her own fingers and would not meet his eyes.

"He tried to take her by force."As Ghalib answered his unspoken question the girl stiffened and her eyes filled with more tears, as though she had understood the Arabic somehow and it had given her memories of something unimaginably awful.

Angered beyond words Ardeth turned on the restrained man, he grabbed his robes in his left hand, and pushed the knife he still held in his right under Rashid's chin."Explain yourself!" he spat, his words, as his body, were taught with rage.

Her hands, trembling, came down in the middle of his back and on his arm that held the knife at Rashid's throat. Something happened that he would never after have the words to explain or describe, but from that contact, as though her hand touched against his bare skin and not through the many layers of his desert robes, he felt a flush of power.It was the same cool wave of peace that had flowed through him during his visions, at Hamunaptra and after his manhood rite.It calmed him, and yet at the same time filled him with a longing that was almost painful to know that peace more deeply. 

"Please, don't hurt him.It wasn't his fault." She said, her soft accented voice – a strange, almost musical accent – barely above a whisper.

For a moment longer he held Rashid and then acquiesced to her gentle plea."What do you mean?" he asked, turning around to face her and returning the knife to his belt.

"Anton has a creature," the girl said."She worked some kind of magic on Rashid.You should be very proud, he resisted _so hard," he saw her eyes fill will tears again and she swayed slightly.Automatically he reached out with both hands to steady her, catching her by the upper arms.After a time she raised her hands inside his arms to push the contact away.He noticed her wincing when her wrists touched against the fabric of his robes."They used a branding iron on his chest… on the marks there."He saw her eyes flicker to the tattoos on his face and knew what she meant at once.They must have made her watch Rashid's torture. "Then she did something. I don't know what, but that was when he… he became like this."_

Ardeth sighed, and then raised his head to speak with Ghalib in Arabic for a moment before addressing the young woman before him."Go with Ghalib.He will keep you safe while you rest."

"Please don't hurt Rashid." She repeated."It's not his fault."

He watched her walk away at Ghalib's side, saw the exhaustion in her steps – in all of her body language and could only guess at what she had suffered to bring her to that point.He found it hard to believe that she could be so forgiving of a man, who by Ghalib's words, had all but raped her.He shook his head.It was not a question he could consider at that moment.He had to find out a way to help Rashid… One way or another, he would be freed from the evil thrall under which he was held.As Ghalib showed her into the tent, and turned his back to stand guard on the door, Ardeth returned his attention to the problem in hand.

He turned suddenly and grasping the man's robes, bunched his muscles so that he could rip the robes to reveal Rashid's chest.Rashid went wild.It took all the strength of the warriors holding him to keep him from breaking free.All the Medjai present winced at the sight of the infected mess his chest had become.

"Start a fire," Ardeth came out of his shocked stupor before the others, "Bring me hot water, salt and bandages.Quickly!"

All the time Rashid snarled and almost foamed at the mouth as though he had lost all mental faculties entirely.Ardeth went to his horse, and took from his saddle bags the jar of paste that his sister had given him to guard against poisonous wounds.

It took four of them to hold the rabid Medjai still while he cleaned out the gore from the burns with the hot salt water and spread on the paste of camphor, cloves and cinnamon oil.As he spread the paste onto the spots where the ruined tattoos had been, balanced scales, he recalled, for the considered nature of Rashid's heart, he had a sudden inspiration to speak the words a Medjai hears for the first time when he has passed his test of his manhood.

"Be swift of thought, and deed, strong of heart and true to the vows you have spoken as a warrior of the twelve tribes.Rashid, son of Hanif – I recognise you as a man, and as a Medjai warrior.May Allah bless you and keep you safe, my brother."

All the fight went out of Rashid as he finished speaking, cautiously Ardeth signalled to the four men to let him go.As they did, Rashid wrapped his arms over to cover his face.A strange whining sound came from the Medjai, now lying immobile once more.It took Ardeth several moment to realise Rashid was holding back a sob.

"Leave us."He said to the others, who obeyed without question.

"You should have killed me!" Rashid finally let go the trapped emotion.

"Your death would have solved nothing." he said harshly, to try and draw Rashid out of his shell.It worked.Rashid lowered his arms and fixed him with a gaze that clearly showed his shame and pain."Besides, the woman you wronged forgave you… Under our own laws, that is enough."

"I heard what she said!"Rashid struggled to sit up, his face creasing with pain as well as everything else."I also saw what I did… felt what I did, what I thought.If Ghalib and Essam had not arrived when they did, I would have forced myself onto her…"

"You were possessed, Rashid.Enough… you must let it go," he said.

"How _can I!" Rashid grabbed the Medjai leader's robes in anguished plea… as though Ardeth were his lifeline."When I have betrayed every vow I ever uttered… every friendship I hold dear and every honour a man can have…?"_

"Then go to her," he took the man by the arms and held him firmly."Tell this to her… though she already knows – as well you are aware if, as you say, you heard her words to me – throw yourself to the ground at her feet and beg for her forgiveness if you must, but do _not give up on who you are… on what you are.We have fought beside each other since we were all but boys Rashid.We will need all the warriors we can get before this is done with and I need __you beside me as you always are."His heart knotted briefly and he swallowed the feeling down."I trust you with my life."_

"Ardeth…?"

"And I will need you at my back if… if we are to come through this."He stood and pulled Rashid to his feet, supporting his friend briefly until he could stand steady by himself."Do what you have to do, my friend… and know that you have my forgiveness – even thought there is nothing to forgive."

**

Anton raced over the campsite toward where Anck-Su-Namun paced in a heated rage.

"We have lost Rashid!" she told him as he grasped her arm to stop her pacing.

"Lost him," he said incredulously, "What do you mean.Is he dead?Did the girl kill him?"He found himself smiling at the thought that Meirionnydd might have killed Anck-Su-Namun little lap dog.

"Lost him!" she screamed at him."I mean he is no longer under my control.I can no longer feel him.I don't know if he still lives!"She snatched up the sistrum from where it hung on her belt."Give me one of your men."

"What are you going to do?"Anton asked suspiciously.

"Do you want the girl back, or are you going to search the whole of the Sahara until you find the missing bell."

He regarded her for many long and silent moments before he said, "All right, what do you need?"

"Just one of your men will do fine." Anck-Su-Namun rattled the sistrum slightly.Anton felt the same cloying sensation of being suffocated by the sound it made each time she shook it.Quickly he called to Graham.

"Yeah, I was busy you know, I…" Graham didn't even get to finish his sentence before she struck with the knife she had concealed in her other hand.He grasped at his throat, as though trying to hold it together and then with a look of disbelief on his face, fell to his knees and forward onto the ground.His life blood seeped along to sand toward Anck-Su-Namun, staining it red.

"For God's sake woman…!" Anton leaped back to avoid the sticky mess seeping into the sand."What the hell was that for?"

She was not listening.She waved the sistrum over the blood red sand and chanted softly in the Ancient Tongue in the same resonant voice she had used before.Slowly the sand started to boil and bubble like liquid in a pan.A low growling, grumbling sound came from the sand as it shifted and grew slowly into the shape of a man, huge and towering.Not one but four of these monstrous man-beasts heaved themselves from the ground to stand waiting, huge swords held across the front of their chests, their serpentine heads swaying and forked tongues tasting the air.

"Dear God have mercy on our souls," Anton gasped, backing away still further."What the hell are they?"

"Warriors my dear."Anck-Su-Namun smiled at them, and ran a wetted finger lovingly down the sharp edge of one of the warrior's blades. "Suti's finest," she crooned."They will keep your precious Medjai busy while he," she jabbed a finger in Willis's direction, "will take the girl."

**

Rick sat on top of the dais in the shrine watching as Evie paced about the small chamber.He'd come in to tell her to stop… to come and rest and get some food… but of course since Jonathan's discovery of the day before, and the fact of all her papers getting scattered in the fuss that ensued, she had been working as though the devil himself was after her ass.

"Evie, all I'm saying is that you need to come and rest… get something to eat."

"I heard you the first time," she said, and popped on her spectacles to read another section of the tiny hieratic text she'd found on one section of the wall."And I will.I will!" she said as he fixed her with a disbelieving stare.

"The text will still be here tomorrow…" Rick murmured lazily."And you've hardly eaten in day, Evie, you look so pale."

"I… I'm fine Rick, don't fuss."She pulled off her glasses and gestured around her. "It's just that after Jonathan found that statue of Suti, I'm more convinced that ever that what's written on these walls is vital to this mystery about the woman that came to Ardeth."

"She didn't come to Ardeth; she came to the museum…"

"And asked for the Medjai." Evie always argued with him.Rick sighed heavily.

"And if you'll remember, I said we were not getting involved this time." he said deliberately.

"Oh do stop going on about that Rick.We are involved.You know what Ardeth said about that…"

"There's that guy's name again!" he started getting irritated."And anyway, I thought he said she had something to do with a goddess, not a god."

"He did.But Usert and Suti were rivals… enemies because of what he did to her husband."

"Oh great, so not content with walking corpses,and thousand year old bug men," Rick started pacing about, with Evie following behind putting all her little pieces of paper back into place when he disturbed them."_Now we're going to get caught in the cross fire between a bunch of gods."_

"Rick O'Connell, you stop that at once," she snapped.He spun around to face her suddenly and she squealed as she collided with him, before stepping back to compose herself."Sarcasm doesn't become you?"

"And I always thought it was one of my strong points," he answered."Look the fact remains, Evie you need to eat, and you're going to eat.The text will still be here tomorrow and there will be plenty of time for us all to get into all sorts of trouble with a bunch of ancient gods. Happy?"

"Oh," she said exasperatedly, "All right I'll come and eat."

"It's just that I worry about you, honey." As soon as she agreed to come and eat he took her hand and started to lead her out of the shrine."We always get into trouble with these things and people die._You did last time, Evie, and I've never felt pain like it.And now there are no black books, no ancient magic and no divine "it is written" prophesy to bring you back.If I lose you again…"_

"No body's going to lose anyone."Evie put her arm around him and he squeezed her tightly as they walked.

**

Meirionnydd was startled out of her light doze as the door of her tent opened and a small bowl of steaming water was placed just inside.

"May I come in?" It was the voice of the leader of the Medjai.She gave him permission and sat up as he, and Ghalib entered the tent.Ghalib stayed by the door, and handed a small bundle to the leader who took up the steaming bowl and came to sit on the floor of the tent beside her. "I am sorry.I did not mean to wake you."

"No, it's all right." Meirionnydd said, flushing as she realised how sleepy she must look.She rubbed her eyes, fighting not to wince at the movement of her hands.

"You must let me tend to your wrists," he said to her.

"Oh you needn't trouble yourself on my account sir," she said."It's nothing really."

"The desert is a harsh and unforgiving place, miss." His accent and the kindness in his voice caressed her as he spoke and Meirionnydd fought not to get lost in it.After all she had suffered, even thought Ghalib had treated her with nothing but consideration, to be able to talk to someone that appeared, at the very least, concerned was almost overwhelming. "Even the slightest of injuries can easily turn poisonous.I insist."He inclined her head toward her hands until she raised them from her lap, trembling as they were toward him."And then we must talk, and eat." he added, bringing the bowl of water to the side of him he took up one of the cloths from the bundle and wet it from the water in the bowl.

She felt him take her hand in his and carefully pull back the sleeve of her blouse.His fingers were long and dexterous, and made to look longer still by the three pronged tattoos on the backs of his hands. She looked up to find him watching her. She blushed.

"May I know your name?" he asked quietly.

"I'm called Meirionnydd," she said."Meirionnydd Evans."

"I'm honoured to meet you Miss Evans," he said.

"Oh no please," he stopped moving as soon as she spoke, "Not Miss Evans.I really do dislike being called Miss Evans.Call me Meirionnydd, please…"

"Then you must call me Ardeth," he told her and bowed over their joined hands."Forgive me, this might hurt a little."

Meirionnydd winced as he began to carefully clean the rope burn on her wrists."What is that?" she asked.

"Salt and water," he answered and paused for a moment in his attention to her wounds.She took the time to breathe deeply against the stinging in her wrists and to try and fight back the feelings of intimidation that were making her fearful of the man, even though he had been nothing but courteous and gentle.

"I didn't get to say thank you for saving me from that… um…" she suddenly flushed with embarrassment, remembering the flight across the desert sand, pulled against him on the back of his horse.She pulled her hand from his."The other night, you know?The guy on the horse."

"He was a Tuareg warrior," Ardeth reached for her hand again and continued with his ministrations."And you are welcome."When she tried to tug her hand away again he continued, "You must allow me to do this, Meirionnydd."

"Sorry," she whispered."Just that… it's been a long time since I've seen kindness and…" she stopped and looked away, biting her lips._I am NOT going to cry in front of this man_

"So tell me," he said, changing the subject, for which she was grateful, as he fastened a light bandage over her wrist and reached for the other hand."Why were you there?"

"I…I see things.I have visions sometimes.Anton was using me to try and find the pieces of an ancient artefact so that he could put it together again and use its power."She saw the Medjai nod and guessed that Rashid must have been speaking with him.

"And you allowed this?" The tone was mild, but his meaning, and the hint of threat, was clear from the way his fingers tightened slightly around her wrist.

"I had no choice." She told him, not able to keep the petulant tone from her voice, "He made me drink something and…"She pulled her arm from his grasp again and needing to retreat from her apprehension and the events of the last twenty four hours, grabbed the small seed of anger she found inside and nurtured it quickly into something she could use."You have _no idea what I've been through these last few weeks.How __dare you suggest I was doing something wrong!"_

"I dare because it is my sworn duty to do so," he answered calmly, and raising his eyebrow as though in challenge he reached, took her hand again and pulled it toward him so that he might continue to clean and dress the wrist."Tell me about these visions.What does he have you see?"

"Bells…" Meirionnydd answered, though she had no idea how she got the word out.Her breath felt almost solid, and her stomach danced around her insides.He'd asked about the visions and all she could see was his face.How could she tell him that?What would he think?Another western woman infatuated with the mystery of the desert warriors?"He wanted to know where to find them… and the… the…"

"Why are you afraid?"He finished tying the bandage around her wrist and then once again picked up the cloth from the bowl of water.She held her breath as he knelt up and moved closer.He tipped her head up.She was terrified at what he might do.

_Strong arms around her… the sudden nature of his embrace took them both off balance and sending them both spinning off, to lie breathless at the foot of the dune… warm full lips descended onto hers…_

She yelped and her awareness came rushing back to the present when he dabbed the cloth on the split in her lip."I have already given you my word that none among the Medjai will harm you."

She pushed against him where he knelt in front of her, and he moved back at once.He even helped her, catching her forearms when she swayed in fatigue, as she got up.She walked away and stood staring at the canvass wall of the tent.

**

He watched her for more than a few moments, intrigued and somewhat concerned by her reaction to what should have been a simple question.He glanced at Ghalib, who shrugged.

Gracefully he got to his feet and moved over toward her, to stand behind her.It surprised him to realise quite how small she was compared to him.It had not been something he had noticed before.He had been far more concerned with the state of her face.She reached only to the top of his chest.

"Meirionnydd, I do not wish to appear to be alarmist or authoritarian, but there are forces at work here that even the Elders of the Medjai do not truly understand." He said as gently as he could."This is a very dangerous and frightening…"

"They terrify me."He stopped as she turned around and fixed him with her tearful brown eyes."He's opened a doorway inside of me and I can't close it.The things I see…I don't understand them but I feel them, the emotions of them, the pain sometimes."She pressed her arms around her stomach and her eyes glazed as though she were locked in some kind of memory that only broke when she sobbed aloud.Her hand flew to cover her mouth as though she were trying to catch it.

She stood trembling and looked so totally lost.He reached out slowly to take her arm.She flinched when he touched her."Please, come and sit down."He turned to Ghalib and asked him to get some water, moving to stand in the doorway once Meirionnydd was sitting on her bed.He made sure he remained visible to the camp in the open doorway until his chaperone returned with the water.

"Thank you."

She almost spilled the water from the cup as she took it from him, but resisted when he moved to steady it in her hands.

"She was already dying when you came to her." Ardeth shuddered at the faraway tone in her voice, and at the fact that he knew she was talking of the Usertim woman that had come to the museum."She knew she was… and that somehow the two of you were destined to meet even though something was wrong in that meeting.You… you…"

"Enough!" he cut her off, sensing she was getting worked up again and briefly he cupped the side of her face in his hand.She leaned into the touch until he removed it and once more helped her to drink by steadying the cup.

"I felt her pain, Ardeth… you held her as she died, and now you… you have the bell, don't you…?The last one that Anton seeks."She looked away from him."I'm sorry… I told him what I saw in that vision.He knows the other parts of the sistrum are in the shrine at Hamunaptra."

"I know," he told her."He already has it.And that is why I must ask you to tell me everything you can remember… everything you may have seen or heard while you were in his camp."

"I can't!" she sobbed and tried to turn away again, but this time he caught her and held her firmly, having to consciously harden his heart against her renewed shaking and her tears.

"I am sorry, but you must."

**

Jonathan tossed and turned in his sleep.It had been a long time since he could remember having a nightmare like it; though to be honest most of the time he went to bed totally drunk and had little chance to let his imagination run away with him.

_"So, are you any good with that thing?"Ardeth stood before him back on the ledge at Ahm Shere._

_Conceited bastard!(No… that wasn't what I said…) And you, weakling – gibbering like a wet nosed child and letting him push you around like that.(Who the hell are you?)_

__

_"You any good with that?" He nodded at the scimitar hanging through Ardeth's belt._

__

_"We will know soon enough," Ardeth moved like lightening and the scimitar swirled through an arc to rest under his chin almost before he had drawn in the shocked breath, "For the only way to kill an Anubis Warrior is to cut off its head."_

__

_(And you stood there on the ledge with that gun just to keep them safe down below.Stuck with the woman… no better than a woman… that's what they all think of you Jonathan Carnahan._

__

_NO that's not true!They needed me to be up there… I'm a fantastic shot._

__

_Yes of course you are… of course you are, my Jonathan… show me… show me how good…Erm… ahh… well all right I will.I'll show you…)_

__

_The fight was mesmerising, Ardeth and Lock-nah dodge and weaved, swords clashed and sparks flew in the night air, but ultimately, the Medjai won out and Loch-nah fell dead.Jonathan felt a rush of disappointment.He was good… he would have been the prefect host, a perfect body… but first he needed to be rid of the interfering Medjai._

__

_He looked back down into the foliage, there was a man creeping up on Ardeth, Jonathan panicked and brought the rifle to bear on the back of the man's head.He saw Ardeth stiffen as the man's gun rested against his back.Smiling with glee, Jonathan pulled the trigger…_

__

_… And the Medjai's head exploded._

"NO!"Jonathan screamed and sat up on his bed, pulling at his clothes as if they were dirtying him somehow."That isn't how it was!" he wrapped his arms around himself and started rocking back and forth."That isn't what happened…"

"Jonathan… are you all right?"Rick came rushing up with his guns in his hands.

"Dreaming," Jonathan gasped."It was just a dream."But the feeling inside – his perverse pleasure at Ardeth's demise remained.And he wasn't so sure.


	8. First Medjai

Power Is 8

Chapter 8 

In spite of how late it had been when she finally got to sleep, Meirionnydd woke early.She lay staring at the roof of her tent, her heart as heavy as her eyelids.Things seemed suddenly so complicated.

Ardeth.

She had a name for the face in her visions.She sighed.But she was not sure that she wanted it.It had been so much easier when he was just a vision – when in her dreams she had seen him as the saviour she so badly needed.The reality had proven to be much more double edged than that.He was such a dichotomy… one moment he appeared friendly, almost tender perhaps, and in the next he was almost barking orders at her as though she were one of his men.That was it, she sighed.You could take the man out of the Medjai, but you could never take the Medjai out of the man.

But in spite of that, his behaviour had been mostly proper, very upright.She closed her eyes and pictured his face, as it was in her visions – tender, concerned, painfully beautiful…she sighed again as she remembered how exacting he had been the previous evening, with his questions - almost suspicious sometimes and at others, merely precise.He had left her exhausted.Told her to rest and then just when she thought her heart would break in disappointment at the difference between the man she had imagined him to be, and the Medjai he was, he had taken her hands in his…

_She jumped as the warmth of his hands closed around her fingers as he prepared to take his leave of her._

__

_"Forgive my thoughtlessness," he said quietly."I have made you more tired when you have already suffered so much."_

__

_"It doesn't matter," she answered quietly."I don't think even if I spent a week asleep it would make much difference."She betrayed herself and had to stifle a yawn, and blushed."I'm sorry perhaps you're right."_

__

_"We will leave you to your rest."He inclined his head respectfully."You have been most helpful Meirionnydd.Tomorrow we will begin the journey to __Cairo__.I have friends there who I am sure will be happy to help you find your way home."_

__

_"Thank you." She sighed deeply as she saw the spark of emotion in his eyes when he spoke of his friends."Goodnight Ardeth."_

__

_"Rest well," He released one of her hands, and brought the other up to his lips, to graze her knuckles with a light kiss."Laila Tiaba."_

__

_And then he turned and left, followed out by Ghalib who throughout her meeting with his chief had stood immobile beside the door.But her heart was racing… her hand burning where his kiss had barely touched her skin._

That feeling rose again in her when the footsteps she had vaguely heard as she remembered the previous night came closer and closer to her tent.

**

He had lain awake for much of the night, his mind churning over the many things that Meirionnydd had told him… his heart full of dread at what the sudden appearance of Anck-Su-Namun might mean.He even got up in the night to awaken one of his warriors with instructions to ride to the nearest of the tribes and gather a small band of warriors to ride to the location of Ahm Shere and ensure that it remained undisturbed.His biggest concern was that her appearance was but a prelude to the resurrection of Imhotep.

He had tossed and turned, trying to make sense of everything he had been told in light of those things he already knew.The Usertim had told him that there was a man seeking to assemble the sistrum and use its power for himself.He knew from Meirionnydd now that this man was Anton Ferrier. By Meirionnydd's words he was an arrogant and ambitious Frenchman from a wealthy and well bred family.He already had wealth and station – exactly the kind of man he usually had to deal with – not satisfied with what he had, he still wanted more.Greed, it was always the same, but something about it just didn't quite make sense.

If it were purely wealth the man craved then there were hundreds of places in the desert, many, many tombs that could be plundered for their content without the need to waken arcane powers such as the ones Meirionnydd had described.

He shuddered, remembering the wild look that had come into her eyes… the way her whole demeanour had changed when she spoke of her momentary possession by Usert, conjured in her darker form by the heart of greedy, bitter man.

_"It felt like," she looked down at the floor, "filth creeping up inside me, choking me and making me want to hurt someone, myself maybe… I don't know."_

__

_He saw the tears rolling off the end of her nose and wanted to reach out, to give her what comfort he could.Instead took a deep breath and pushed the feelings aside.Now was not the time for him to indulge his softer side. According to the Elders the survival of the twelve tribes depended on his ability to see this journey through to the bitter end.On that thought he asked, "And then what happened?"_

__

_"I can't…" she sobbed and he had to breathe more deeply, summoning the warrior to banish the husband and father within.His head snapped up at that and he wondered where the hell the thought had come from.His discomfort, the disconcerted feeling it left him with made it all the easier to hide behind his warrior's mask._

__

_"I am sorry, but I need to know," he said._

__

_"Please don't…" she shook her head, dislodging more tears from the end of her nose.It twisted a knot in his stomach._

__

_"Look at me," he commanded gently._

__

_"No."_

__

_"I said look at me."Still sobbing quietly she slowly raised her head.He crooked his finger and wiped away the visible tears with the side of it. The knot tightened when she flinched at his touch and he dropped the hand onto her shoulder. "I do not ask you to do this for the sake of witnessing your suffering.I need to understand what it is the Medjai face and for that only you can help me.Why is it that you cannot tell?"_

__

_"I hurt him… Rashid," she whispered."And I summoned Anck-Su-Namun.I'm SO ashamed."_

__

_He closed his eyes to shut out the sight of her desolation and to stop the spiralling feelings from making him behave any more improperly by acting on the desire to draw her into the warm circle of his arms and keep from her the pain of her memories._

__

_"You did not," he said at last."You should allow yourself the same forgiveness you granted Rashid."He let his hand slip from her shoulder to nudge her eyes to meet his."How can it be that he has no responsibility for committing the worst insult any man can offer to a woman and yet you are guilty of unspeakable ill in hurting one already injured by the evil of a man such as Ferrier?"_

__

_"You knew?"_

__

_"You had to know I would speak with Rashid." He smiled at her then."He said, 'You should be proud of her, Ardeth.She fought so hard,'"___

__

_For a second she smiled, but the smile soon faded and fear and misery returned to her eyes."You were angry when you found out that I summoned her."_

__

_He turned his head onto one side, considering not only her words, but also the response in his gut to her apparent concern of how he felt about her."Would it matter so very much if I were?"_

She hadn't answered him.In fact had looked away and pushed his hand off her shoulder as though he had suddenly made her uncomfortable and the moment of closeness was shattered.

Probably not a bad thing, he decided, rolling to his feet and brushing the sand off his robes.He had been approaching that uncomfortable feeling again.

"Husband and father," he whispered and then sighed sharply telling himself, "Ardeth, Enough!"He had a job to do and enough to worry about already without that he start wishing for something that could not and would not be.

To settle his heavy, troubled heart he walked over to his horse, taking the brush from his pack he started to groom his long time friend.

"How is the girl?" Rashid disturbed him some time later.

"You are avoiding her," Ardeth accused softly, turning from his horse. "Her wounds need redressing, Rashid.And we need to find her something a little more suitable to wear.She cannot spend three days being passed among us as we return to Cairo."

"I have some something that may be suitable in amongst my things." Rashid answered and when Ardeth looked at him in puzzlement said, "Ghayda asked me to find her something to wear on our rides together.It may be a little big for the girl, but…"

He smiled and put his hand onto Rashid's shoulder."You may use her name, my friend," he said with an amused smile."Actually I think it would do the both of you some good to spend a little time together.Tend to her wounds, my warrior – and take the clothes to her."

"Ardeth…"

"Rashid, enough!She does not blame you… in fact I doubt the woman has a bitter or angry bone in her body," he sighed."You both need the healing such a meeting will bring," he concluded, turning back to his horse.He felt Rashid's eyes of the back of his neck for many long moments before the man turned away.

Ardeth turned and watched him gather the things he would need, and enlist Tayyib as chaperone."Besides." He sighed."I think I too am avoiding her."

**

"Meirionnydd, may I come in?" Her heart lurched when she heard Rashid's voice from outside her tent.

"Yes, Rashid."She stood in the middle of the tent and watched as he ducked inside, followed by another Medjai she did not recognise."It's good to see you," she said.

He stood just inside the doorway as if he were unsure how to proceed.She looked him over.Under his robes she could see the unmistakable white of the bandages that had been wound diagonally across each shoulder to keep the dressings in place on his chest."Well come in," she smoothed her skirt down as if she were brushing out creases.She gave him a warm smile and shrugged in apology at her dishevelled appearance.

"Ardeth has asked that I attend to you wrists," he said and she watched all of his awkwardness fall away because of her smile.

"Oh?" she asked, trying to sound as though it didn't matter to her who did it."I suppose he is busy preparing for the journey to Cairo."

Rashid smiled, and now she knew he was fully himself again by the amused gleam in his eyes."I think he is avoiding you." he told her.

Her insides knotted as she examined the reasons he could be keeping himself away and settled on the most obvious.He was angry with her for the evil she had unleashed upon the world in summoning Anck-Su-Namun.Her face fell and her bottom lip started trembling outrageously.

"He is angry with me." She bit her lip.

"No," Rashid let out a little laugh and putting down the things he carried crossed to take her by the shoulders.She looked up at him in time to receive the fatherly kiss he planted on her forehead."When I left him just now his expression was one of only concern and admiration."

"Really?" she asked forgetting to conceal the way she felt.

"Yes, you have been through much.Most women Ardeth knows would have long since buckled under the pressure of it.It is a strong woman that will win that one's heart.Trust me; I have known him since we were both boys."She moved away from him and walked away, feeling suddenly miserable.

"I'm not strong." She murmured.

"No?" She turned and saw that he was sitting down beside the things he had brought with him and was holding out his hand."Come to me Meiri," he said.She smiled at the way he shortened her name affectionately.She liked it.She took his hand and allowed him to sit her down in front of him."You endured captivity at the hands of an evil man and yet showed courage enough to try and save me even when I had told you that you should have saved yourself."He reached for her bandaged wrists and took off the bandages as he continued to list her achievements."You survived a battle with the Tuareg and you calmed the First Medjai with little more than gentle words and a touch."

"First Medjai?" she queried, putting her hands into the bowl of water when he indicated that she should do so.

"Ardeth's official title is First Medjai – though between the two of us, he hates it."Rashid took one of her hands into soft linen to dry it carefully and repeated the action with the other."And you calmed his anger, and changed his course with but words and a touch and in so doing, saved my life a second time.You have strength, Meiri… never doubt that."

He started to unscrew the lid of a small container.Meirionnydd frowned and he held it out to her.She brought it to her nose and then held it away quickly as the fumes started to make her eyes run."Smells like church and cloves," she said, and as he took back the jar she asked quietly."Would he really have killed you?"

"Yes," he answered, without hesitation."Give me your hand, and forgive me – this will sting. Under Medjai law there are few crimes greater than defiling the sacred nature of a woman."

Meirionnydd blushed and looked away, then hissed as he spread the antiseptic ointment onto the worst part of her wrists and waves of heat travelled right through her flesh."What is _in that?"_

"Camphor, cloves…" he shrugged."Ghayda made it for me."

"Ghayda?"

"My wife."

"You're married?I didn't know."She felt very foolish for no reason that she could fathom.

"There was no reason you should.I had not mentioned her to you." he smiled again."You would like her I think.You are both gentle and kind."She watched as he started winding clean dressings around her wrist."We have a daughter, just turned one year old."

Meirionnydd found herself growing a little misty eyed to hear Rashid speaking of his family in such a warm and loving way.It made her realise how little she truly knew of the people in whose company she now found herself, it made her feel a little more awkward.

"Did I hurt you?" Rashid brushed back her hair from the side of her face, and gestured toward her eyes which bore the evidence of how touched she was by his love for his wife and daughter.

"Just hearing you talking like that."She smiled."It's nice.I didn't think…"

"What…?That Medjai have feelings?" He too smiled.There was no reproach in his voice, only patience.

Meirionnydd blushed feeling foolish again and then another horrible thought occurred to her and she had voiced the thought before she could think, "Ardeth, he isn't…"

Rashid laughter cut her off.She felt angry with herself for blurting out the thought in her head and turned away in a huff, starting to get up. "Oh Meiri, I am sorry." She waited while Rashid composed himself."Forgive me.I am not laughing _at you.Just the thought of Ardeth…"He burst out laughing again._

"Why is he so difficult." She asked mournfully and Rashid's laughter died away."To understand, I mean.To read his thoughts and feelings."

He got to his feet and came toward her again."Ardeth carries the weight and responsibility of the twelve tribes.His duties as a Medjai warrior are all important to him.When you understand those things he is not so difficult to understand."

He reached behind him and picked up the other bundle he brought with him and handed it to her.

"What is it?" she asked, still thinking about Ardeth.

"Put these on," he said."They may be a little long for you as Ghayda is taller, but at least you will be comfortable."

"I can't take your wife's clothes." She said, but loved the feel of the soft material against her hands.

"Unless you intend to ride in your skirt, I would suggest that you do." He started to turn away.

"He's making me ride?"

"You _can ride a horse?" Rashid turned back to face her, suddenly looking a little concerned. _

"Well… yes I can, but it's been a long time since I have."Suddenly she smiled.He wasn't _making her ride, he was __letting her ride._

"I'm sure he will have chosen a manageable beast for you, Meiri.I told you…he is concerned for you."He had reached the doorway, and the chaperone had already left the tent.Meirionnydd was already reaching for the button on her skirt when he turned back."One more thing I will tell you," he said.

"What's that?"

"He is battling with something in his mind that he will not even discuss with me." Rashid answered."Perhaps it is something _you can help him with."_

**

"All right, Jonathan, enough is enough."Jonathan jumped and almost tossed the contents of the flask all over the desert floor as Rick came up behind him."First you wake the whole camp with your girly screaming, and now you're hitting the bottle hard before elevensies.I'd say there was something pretty big going on.I want to know what.And I want to know now."

"I did not…!" Jonathan settled on the one thing that any upstanding male well on his way to the far side of sozzled would and protested."It was _not a girly scream."_

"Jonathan…" Rick's tone was the one he always used when he did not want to be messed with.

"All right.All right…" He said, more than a little irritation creeping into his alcohol soaked brain."It was a dream Rick.A nightmare… you know, not unlike the ones that you wake from screaming for Evie."

"Don't you try and change the subject." Rick was not going to be put off, Jonathan realised, when he took the flask. "What was the dream about?"

Jonathan sighed.He was going to have to tell the truth… well most of it anyway."I was back at Ahm Shere… Ardeth was fighting with Loch-nah, and then the guy came up behind him only I missed."

"Missed?" Rick sounded incredulous."But you didn't miss, Jonathan, you hit him and you saved Ardeth's life."

"Only in this dream I missed and blew Ardeth's bloody head off." Jonathan snatched back the flask and took a long pull at the liquid inside, which burned a path right down to his stomach and back again."You'd scream too!"

"So let me get this straight." Rick leaned back against a nearby fallen pillar."In your dream you were reliving what happened back at Ahm Shere and you killed Ardeth."

"By mistake," He added quickly as he spotted one of the Medjai warriors standing over by the horses.Then Jonathan shuddered as the glee he had felt during the dream came flooding back."Oh God!" he moaned and took another huge drink of the whiskey from the flask.

"Buddy – I think you have been out in the sun way too long.I also think…"Rick took the flask and upended it, tipped the brown liquid away onto the hot sand.

"No… oh Rick, old boy… what'd you go and do that for?"

"Because you have had quite enough already…Old. Boy."Rick took his arm."You are going to go back inside your tent and sleep this off – and there'll be no more silly talk about Ahm Shere, or accidentally killing Ardeth, or anyone… or upsetting Evie because there's something wrong with her brother.Do I make myself clear?"

"Crystal," Jonathan hiccupped and felt the touch of Rick's baleful eye as he crawled into his tent.A few hours later, the dwarves mining in his head were augmented by the pounding of a horse's hooves.Jonathan looked out to see that one of the Medjai's horses was missing and presumably with it, one of the Medjai

**

She felt extremely self conscious coming out of the tent dressed as she was.It wasn't that she didn't like the clothes, or that they revealed too much of her body – which they certainly didn't – just that they were so very…Medjai.

Meirionnydd blinked, and squinted against the brightness of the sun and then looked around trying to find someone she recognised, someone she could ask if she were expected to do anything.

"You look as though you were born to wear our clothing." Rashid made her jump, and she spun around and almost tripped over her own feet.

"Rashid," she gasped."You startled me."

"Forgive me.I was just coming for you," he said."Ardeth needs you.He is with the horses."

"What about the…" she turned to gesture toward her tent, only to find the Medjai had already dismantled it and were packing it away with their own gear."Tent," she finished redundantly.

"Go to him.He is waiting."Rashid's voice was soft, and for some reason made her flush with embarrassment.Perhaps it was the thought that Ardeth was waiting for her.

As she approached he was just lifting the saddle onto a rather powerful looking animal with a deep brown coat.He turned as he must have heard her coming.Her heart contracted in what could almost have been pain as his dark eyes passed over her warmly.His hair was still loose; his robes were crisply tied and had not yet picked up the dust from the desert.He looked more imposing than she remembered.She swallowed hard.

"Much better," he said, making her feel more self conscious.He bent down to tighten up the girth strap on the animal.

"Rashid said you wanted to see me," she said, trying to sound calm and came to stand by the front of the horse and stroked her hand down its silken face and neck.The animal nuzzled strongly at her arm.

"Yes," Ardeth said, never once turning from what he was doing."I wanted to apologise again for keeping you talking until far too late, and also for not visiting you this morning."

"It's all right.I understand that you have a lot to do." She was almost holding her breath.

"Not so much as to excuse my rudeness." He turned to her and inclined his head politely."He also said you have not ridden in a long time."

"No."

"How long?"he asked."Mount up for me."

She swallowed hard, and walked around to the left of the horse."Four years at least." She answered.The animal was huge and she doubted she could have reached the stirrups even with a mounting block. She shivered as a bolt of feeling went through her as Ardeth came to her side and touched her shoulder lightly.

"Let me help you." he offered."He is the smallest of them."

He cupped his hands for her to step into and gingerly, with one hand on his shoulder and one hand on the saddle horn she did so.He virtually lifted her up into the saddle.The horse shifted a couple of steps until Ardeth patted his neck firmly and spoke quietly in Arabic and then he set about adjusting the length of the leather holding the stirrups.

Each time his fingers touched her leg to move it, or accidentally brushed against her calf, Meirionnydd felt a tingling sensation rushing up into her stomach that made it just that bit more difficult to breathe.She needed a distraction.

"He's a beautiful animal," she said quietly.

"His name is Farhas," Ardeth glanced up at her as she leaned forward to stroke the side of the horse's neck.She tried to ignore the feelings and prevent the blush that crept over her face when she felt his eyes studying her."He is a good natured animal, you can trust him.How does that feel?"He stepped away from the horse slightly and gestured toward the stirrups.

"Fine," she said hesitantly."Thank you.A little bit intimidating, he's so tall."

Ardeth smiled, and she almost lost control of all her mental faculties.She had not expected such a dazzling and complete smile from him.He seemed so serious and businesslike."We will be beside you," he said."Now come.We will be leaving soon and you still have not broken your fast."

"Oh that's all right.I'll be fine I…"

"You must eat, Meirionnydd." He reached up his hands and gestured for her to allow him to help her down from the horse."The desert is a…"

"Harsh and unforgiving place… yes, I know.You told me last night."Meirionnydd swung her leg over the neck of the horse and started to slide toward Ardeth.Her hands found his shoulders and his hands, her waist as he guided her gently to the ground, almost lifting her down.

Her heart quickened at the touch of his hands on her body, functional yes, but feeling so personal to her, her awareness of him heightened.She felt the movement of his muscles under her fingers where they rested on his shoulders, and the warmth that radiated off his body as he lowered her between himself and the horse, and still held her while she found her balance when her feet finally touched the ground.

"Do not be so difficult," he told her.The tone of his voice sent rivulets of alternate heat and cold dancing over her spine.Involuntarily she tightened her hands on his shoulders. Her gaze crept upward from where it was focussed on the tattoos on his cheek and she met his eyes, falling into the heated space between them expressed in the dark pools that now held her captive.Her breathing quickened, her heart was pounding and she bit her lip as his hands on her hips shifted slightly, becoming lighter, less supportive, more personal.His gaze intensified, almost suffocating her with the apprehension it kindled in the pit of her stomach.

"Sayiidi, honaka sebakul khauol ellal sharq."

His eyes closed, he sighed and she was released from the bittersweet embrace his gaze had been.The warmth of his fingers slipped away from her waist and briefly covered her hands to lift them away from his shoulders.He squeezed them gently as he let them go.

"Raweeni!" He gestured to her to follow them back to the centre of the camp."My apologies, Meirionnydd, but I must attend to this.Rashid," he called in Arabic across the camp to Rashid and she heard her name amongst it.

Then he was gone… following his warrior to the side of the camp and taking the spyglass from the second warrior there.

"Don't stare.He will not thank you for it." Rashid made her jump as he walked up behind her and spoke very quietly."Come and have breakfast."

**

Willis rode nervously in the midst of the four terrifying man-beast warriors.Not one of them made a sound, other than a sibilant hiss that occasionally passed their lips accompanying the tongue that flickered through the air as if they tasted for the presence of their enemies.

She'd said he had control, but looking at the abominations conjured from the blood of his companion, he couldn't help but wonder at the truth of it.Still, they hadn't argued with him when he suggested that they wait before attaching the Medjai, who appeared to have taken on reinforcements.He hoped that their number would reduce after the inevitable battle between the Medjai and the outriders of Karhan.

The troubles between the two were well known to men like Willis, who had often been paid princely sums of money to lure unsuspecting, untried western ladies away from their escorts.Karhan was alleged to be involved in the slave trade around this part of the desert and once had made an attack on a small group of Medjai travelling from one oasis to the next.It was unfortunate that the Medjai had been a wedding party, transporting a bride to her husband-to-be.The attack had ended badly.None of the men in either party escaped injury, many lost their lives and the bride, fearing for her virtue, took her own life rather than become a sexual toy to be sold to the highest bidder.The Medjai and Karhan had been enemies ever since.

Perhaps when the fight was over the numbers would nearer to what he expected in the first place.There were only supposed to be three Medjai with the girl, not a dozen or so.

**

She wanted to be independent, but after years of not riding and so long in the saddle it was all she could do to keep her feet under her as she dismounted.

"Careful," Ardeth's voice purred the word as he caught her when she stumbled.She clung to his robes while the fire in her legs, back and shoulders settled."You should have waited.I was just coming to help you down."

"I didn't think I would be quite so stiff," she answered, feeling foolish.It wasn't until she felt the light touch of his hands as they brushed against hers that she let go of him."Sorry," she said.

He shook his head and smiled."My men will soon have your tent in place and you may go to your rest.I will have someone bring you something to eat when it is ready.Excuse me."

"Those people," she said as he started to turn."The ones that were following us all day.Who are they?"

"Very perceptive," he said and inclined his head slightly in respect."But you need not concern yourself with them.The camp will be well guarded and should they foolishly come any closer you will be safe."

"That wasn't what I asked," she challenged him, the pain in her body making her feel more than a little irritable.

"And I said you need not concern yourself with them."This time he turned and started to walk away.

"Damn it, Ardeth, just tell me!" she called after him and he stopped walking and turned to face her again."You expect me to trust you, but won't even answer one simple question.They obviously trouble you because you've had me tucked in the middle of your men all day.Who _are they?"_

He appeared to be considering what she had said, and then walked back toward her purposefully.In spite of herself she backed up a step.

**

He didn't miss the way she retreated and slowed his stride to approach her more carefully.She was right.He had been expecting her to follow orders without knowing what was going on and she was not one of his men.

He held out a hand as he neared her and gestured toward the middle of the camp, away from the horses which were not quite on the edge of the camp but further out than the centre.He slowed his pace still further as she stepped in beside him to walk with him.

"They are men that belong to our enemies, Meirionnydd.The man they serve is known to us to be involved in the highly unspeakable practice of human trade.It is something the Medjai will not tolerate."

"Oh." he felt her looking at him, but did not look over.Her simple word conveyed that she now understood why he had been so protective of her… had shielded her with his men and was now going to great lengths to get her to cooperate and keep herself where she could be safe.

She was close enough that at times she brushed against his arm and he felt the tension there… as thought she was fighting with something in just the same way as was he.He stole a look out of the corner of his eye to see her biting her lip, her face thoughtful.He thought back to the last time he had seen her doing that and couldn't help wondering what it signified.She had all but been in his arms then, after he had lifted her down from the horse – he could almost still feel the way her fingers had tightened on his shoulders as he had looked at her.She was afraid of him, and that bothered him more than he would have liked.

"How long will it take us to get to Cairo?" she asked him suddenly, breaking in on his thoughts.

"Perhaps another two days," he answered.

"I'm slowing you down." It was a statement, not a question and the concern it conveyed for being a nuisance to him, touched him in a way that was – at least to him – profound.He turned to her.They had reached the centre of the encampment and there were people around, going about the various tasks involved in preparing the area before full darkness fell upon them.All he could do was find her light brown eyes with his and hope that she would understand why he kept himself so far from her at times.

"I does not matter, ya soghair," he said, pulling up his sense of duty once more to bail him out of an uncomfortable feeling."I have taken you into the protection of the Medjai, and as long as it takes, no matter what, we will see you safely to Cairo."

"I feel so useless," she told him.Her eyes were sad, he thought, in that moment. "Is there anything I can do?"

"I do not know," he said lightly.He saw her independence and understood the discomfort _she must feel in having to surrender completely to his judgement and command.He would have been just the same.He granted what little return of it to her as he could with a light query, "Is there?"_

A huge smile spread over her face.She must have seen that he understood how she felt and he too smiled, kindly… warmly to match the feelings that were fast growing inside him for this young woman – that, try as he might, he could not suppress… of mixed concern and admiration.

"Well I can cook," she suggested.

He nodded, and turned to seek out one of his men."Omran," he said in Arabic, "Assist Miss Evans with the things she needs.She will be cooking for us this night."

"Yes, my chief." Omran answered, standing straighter to identify himself to Meirionnydd.

He turned back when he heard Meirionnydd's disappointed sigh.The expression on her face turned his chest into a mass of knots.She looked angry, sad and hurt all at the same time.It confused him, but at the same time hurt him also.

"I thought I asked you to call me Meirionnydd."There was no mistaking the petulant hurt tone in her voice either as she started to move around him toward Omran.

He turned and caught her arm.She looked first at his hand and then further up into his face."You did, and I will," he said slowly, softly, and then a wave of feeling burst over him at her answering smile, fiercely protective."But they may not."

Releasing her, he watched her walk away.He sighed and shook his head.This was getting silly.He really had to get a grip on himself.

"What is it about her that bothers you, my friend?"Rashid asked the question that was in the forefront of his mind – as often he did.It was one of the reasons they were so close.If he could discuss this matter with anyone it would be with him, only he wasn't sure he was ready to discuss it at all.

"It bothers me that I am bothered at all," he said, and patting Rashid's shoulder to let him know he understood that the man was ready to help him, but that he was not ready to be helped, he walked away to find something to do that would keep his mind occupied away from thoughts of Meirionnydd.

**

Four sentries and Ardeth himself making a fifth.It was unprecedented and in spite of the fact that Ardeth knew it had made his men feel nervous he did nothing to change it.He had an awful feeling inside – as though something were waiting to explode and it was only a matter of time before it did.The last time he could remember feeling such a thing was the day he had met the O'Connells for the first time.

The first shot rang out just before the moon had crossed the path of Orion, waking the entire camp.One of the Medjai sentries cried out and fell to the sand.

"Damned cowards," Ardeth hissed. Every time it was the same… sniper fire to draw them away, to one side of the camp while the main force would ride in from the flank.He shook his head.How did they possibly hope to gain the advantage if they always used the same tactics?Already he heard his men making the necessary preparations.He picked his way carefully over to the fallen warrior.The man was still conscious and in pain, clutching his shoulder."Bursuq, how bad?" he asked, pulling the man behind cover.

"Shattered!" Bursuq gave Ardeth his opinion of the state of his shoulder.

"Let me see," He started to try and pull the man's hand away from his injury.

"Leave be," the man insisted.He would have said more, but in the next moment called Ardeth's name in warning.

Spinning upward to his feet Ardeth crossed his arms to find the hilts of his scimitars and draw them free of their sheaths.He wove their tips in a figure eight between him and the man coming in at him with a sword and long knife of his own.

"Medjai!" The man spat the greeting, lunging forward with a cross that was easily parried by the experienced fighter that Ardeth certainly was.

"Corpse," he returned the greeting coldly and replied with such a blurring volley of strikes that the man had to give ground just to maintain his balance.

Suddenly the sand around them erupted into noise and motion as the rest of the Karhan troops rode into the camp, from the same side as the sniper fire.Ardeth spat silent curses, so they _did learn.He mistimed an awkward parry and felt the sting of his opponents blade slice across the muscle of his bicep, not deep enough to be troubling, but enough to focus his mind once more on the dangerous melee around him._

They used the Medjai's tactics against them, riding in and snatching brands from the fire that they tossed onto the canvas tents, causing general confusion in the noise and the movement their presence added.

Ardeth glanced to the side, keeping his guard up against the man that dodged and wove around the horses that occasionally came between them and still attacked, trying to score a solid hit, to see how far he was from the tent housing Meirionnydd.He needed to get over there… and fast.

**

She was so exhausted after the day's ride and the tension and… well everything, that her head touched the skins that made her bed and she was gone… sleeping… not dreaming except perhaps of the feeling of being wrapped in warm strong arms.

She was so tired and sleeping so soundly in fact that she slept right through the gunshot, and the escalating noise of the battle outside.It was only when she started breathing in smoke that she woke up, her mind a fuzzy ball of panic.

She pulled on her boots as quickly as she could and tried to find the doorway of the tent that was burning around her.

She emerged to growing chaos and confusion, and battles all around her with scimitars, swords and knives.Horses milled about, afraid of the fire, trampling bodies when they fell.It could have been a picture of hell from Dante's _Inferno and it pushed her right back into the black hole of fear from which she had been trying to emerge._

Instinct made her duck the incoming swing from a nearby opportunistic warrior.She screamed as she felt the blade whistle mere millimetres from the top of her head.She couldn't back up, the tent was behind her and burning… already in danger of setting her on fire.She had nowhere to go… save into the battle around her.She turned to run, but found herself face to face with one of the grinning men that Ardeth had names as slavers.

He teased her, toyed with her, pointing his sword her way and making feints and fake lunges to make her dodge this way and that.He spoke to her in rapid, lewd Arabic, not that she understood the words, but the tone was unmistakeable.Her panic rose and rose as she got more and more frantic.Breathing became difficult, moving even harder and then a sudden sharp pain in her shoulder let everything in… as she was almost paralysed with the fear of it all, she did the only thing that she could.

"ARDETH!"

**

No more time for finesse, he kicked up a foot while his crossed scimitar blades held back an overhand swing from cleaving his head in two.His opponent staggered backward, not expecting the move, and not expecting either the follow through when Ardeth whirled the handles of his blades around his hands to bring the sharp sides down and slashed diagonally downward with both blades at once.The doomed man looked at the growing red X on the front of his tunic and didn't manage to get his blade up in time to stop the killing blow.

"ARDETH!"

Across the camp her scream reached his ears and he turned to watch the man in front of her, goading her with the pointed tip of his blade.She was only maybe twenty at most thirty feet away from him, but it felt like a gulf of a hundred miles.

Anger surged bell like and horribly clear through his blood, drawing a growl from his throat as he pushed it back, to use it's strength rather than make the mistake of letting _it use __him – that way lay mistakes… mistakes that would likely be costly or even fatal._

Fighting every step of the way, fending dagger blow here, and sword there, he crossed the space between them, focussing only on the sound of her voice as she called for him again and recognising that she was well beyond panic.

As he reached her side, tucking one of his blades into his belt and meaning to reach for her, the man swung his blade in high and Meirionnydd raised a hand in self defence.Ardeth snapped his remaining blade up to intercept the strike and took Meirionnydd's raised hand in his.In truth there was no real force behind the blow, but it would have given her a nasty gash had it connected.The ruffian backed off a step, and Ardeth put himself between the man and Meirionnydd.

"This woman is under my protection," he said."You want her; you will have to come through me first."He kissed her hand and tucked it into the side of his sash, and then took up his second scimitar.The ruffian took one look at the imposing figure he presented, turned tail and ran… straight into the wall that was Tayyib, who cut him down without a word.

Ardeth nodded to his fellow warrior, and then turned to Meirionnydd.Careful of his blades he laid his hands onto her shoulders and leaned down to try and look at her."Are you all right?"No answer.She was gazing over his arm at something.He glanced over his shoulder in the direction of her gaze and saw she was looking at the body of the man that had been tormenting her.Hooking one blade over his sash again, he took her chin in his hand and turned her face up to his."Meirionnydd, are you all right?Are you hurt?"She nodded and shook her head all at the same time, but at least she had answered."Stay with me, hmmm?I will get you out of here."

"All right," she answered faintly.

**

The fight was slowing down, but it was impossible to see who had gained the upper hand, so he had two choices.He could either go in now, and risk that the Medjai were still too great in number, or he could wait and see and risk losing the girl to Karhan's henchmen.

He watched her, gripping tightly to the arm of tall Medjai warrior who was edging her from the main body of the fight

**

Ardeth was starting to worry.She was shaking outrageously and her hands felt like steel bands around the muscles on his arm where she was gripping him.The last thing he needed was for her to go into shock.

Someone… no not someone… some_thing came at him out of the dark.Meirionnydd screamed and let go of his arm, backing off from both the creature and him._

"Meirionnydd, no!" he yelled, snatching up his scimitar and parrying the blow aimed at his head.His arm ached at the impact; he had no more time to worry about where Meirionnydd had run to as a second creature came at him out of the dark.They were huge, their shape vaguely that of a man, but the heads were serpentine.His heart lurched – reminded suddenly of the Anubis warriors and the trouble they had been to kill.Only by decapitation were they returned to the sand from which they came.He tried to get his blades up high, but these creatures were smarter, always aiming low, keeping them down and forcing him to use both blades to parry.He was only lucky that because of the size and type of weapon they were using he was able to make at least two attacks for every one of theirs.Speed was his ally.He only hoped that it would be enough.

**

Meirionnydd turned and ran.She had no idea where she was running to, she just ran.Her steps took her back the way she had come, between the burning wrecks of tents until she came face to face with two more of the snake headed beasts that now beset Ardeth.They opened their mouths and hissed at her, and she slid to a halt, wheeling her arms backwards and screaming a shrill scream as she lost her balance and went down.

Back… she had to go back… why had she even left him in the first place?He was going to keep her safe.He'd promised…

Sliding along on her bottom through the sand she fought to get back to Ardeth.The creatures followed her, stepping slowly where she scuttled quickly.Sounds of metal against metal announced her arrival, like sweet music, and she turned onto all fours and hurried the last few steps of the way.

Sand showered down all around her as she sheltered in the Medjai's moonlit shadow.She covered her head, not daring to watch, just listening to the ringing sounds, and growls of effort that Ardeth was letting out as he fought, now three of the creatures, trying to keep them from surrounding him, trying to keep her behind him, with him between her and the creatures.

Help him…she had to help him.Grabbing the back of his robe she hauled herself up to her feet.

"Well lookie here!" she froze at the sound of the voice.Her fingers turned into fists, knotted in the back of Ardeth's robes."Mr Ferrier would like a word with you little girl."

"No," Meirionnydd breathed."Leave me alone!"

"Sorry, no can do," Willis answered, coming toward her.A shower of sand stopped him in his tracks as another of the creatures exploded into oblivion."Looks like your boyfriend there isn't going to make it easy on us little girl," he started moving again."Might have to do something about that."

Meirionnydd watched him pull out a huge and vicious looking hunting knife from a sheath inside his boot.He started toward where she was still clinging to the back of Ardeth's robes.

"No, Willis, don't!" she pleaded with the man."I'll go with you."

"Oh you'll go with me all right," he said, a wicked grin splitting his face."About time someone showed these desert rats how we do stuff in the west."He lunged forwards, the knife leading, heading straight for the middle of Ardeth's back.

Time slowed.Meirionnydd could already feel Ardeth slowing with fatigue at having fought the creatures, four of them at first, now down to two and she knew that if she shouted a warning there would be nothing he could do.She slipped, fabric slipping through her hands, almost burning her fingers and something hard bumped against the side of the small aching fists.She didn't think – she acted.Grasping the hilt of the long curved knife that Ardeth wore at his back she pulled it free from the sheath.It sang a note of protest into her mind, but she pushed it aside.If she didn't act – if she allowed herself to think – then Ardeth would die and she would be back in the hands of the man that had driven her to the doorway of hell itself, with his drugged induced manipulation.

Her arm came up and back and slashed down in a crosswise motion… and a man cried out.She let out a cry of her own, in denial, unsure of which voice she had heard.Something hot and wet splashed against her neck and chest as droplets of sand fell against the top of her head.Her hand came back again and this time plunged forwards, something impacted against her hand that held the knife as a warmth flowed over her fingers.She felt something fall against her feet and stared down at the eyes, looking up at her, open in glassy disbelief.

**

There was nowhere that didn't ache, that didn't hurt from the effort of keeping up the fight.His muscles burned as he pushed still more, knowing there was danger behind, but unable to turn from the fearsome creature that thrust and swung at him with the strength of ten men, still fighting as though it were fresh to the battle.

Meirionnydd cried out behind him and in half turning he missed a parry and hissed in pain as the slice of a blade grazed his hip.He called out to her, she didn't answer and he felt everything inside him fall to the bottom of his soul.

He growled, slashed up with first one, then the second of his blades.They passed through the creature as though nothing were there at all, the sand which made it merely parting in their wake.He barely got his right arm down in time to catch the heavy swing that came at his middle.

He followed it with the scimitar in his left hand, weaving his right through figure eight, repeating the motion again with the right, forcing his exhausted muscles over and over through the same routine, forcing the creature's blade higher and higher to keep it from striking at him.

The eerie, thick silence behind him was chilling… threatening to steal his concentration and make him turn to see what had happened to Meirionnydd, why she had cried out and was still.There was no movement from behind that he could hear through the pounding of his own straining heart.

Finally high enough, his shoulders almost tearing themselves apart he crossed his hands at the wrists, lunged forward, behind the creature's guard, risking for that one split second his open, unguarded chest, and brought his wrists, right sliding over left, apart.He had to cover his eyes as the creature disintegrated, showering everything in blood red sand.

Fighting to stop himself from falling to his knees, his heart heavy and prepared for pain, he turned slowly, dropping both scimitars to the ground at his feet as he turned, breathing hard.

She was staring at her hands.Standing absolutely rigid and staring at her hands.His eyes flickered downward, first to the body of the man at her feet and then to his knife clasped in the curled up claws of her fingers.He couldn't even see her breathing.

As he got closer, he became aware of a soft, low sound coming from the back of her throat.A strange, haunting sound that made him shiver, that further chilled his already sluggish blood.It was a sound he would never forget, because it broke down every defence he ever had.

"Gently now.It is all right.You can let go," he said quietly in Arabic, forgetting himself… forgetting that which they did not share.Still she didn't move.He reached out a gentle hand and opened the fingers that were curled around the knife.At the touch of his hand she finally let out the sob she had been holding inside, she sobbed his name and he came unbound.

Tossing the knife aside he pulled her into the cradle he made of his arms, holding her tightly, his head lowered beside hers."All right," he whispered, drawing out the sounds to make them more gentle, more soothing."You are safe, ssshhh."Huge sobs wracked her body where it was pressed against him."It is over, little one.Ssshhh, it is done."

"Ardeth, we are…"

"No, Rashid… not now!" Ardeth didn't even turn his head."Deal with it.Go!"

Vaguely he heard Rashid obey, most of his attention was still focussed on the sobbing young woman in his arms.He tried to summon up what peace he had in his heart to give to her, to calm her, but the truth of it was… he was afraid.

When the sobbing became trembling he finally raised his head… his fear for her was coupled with worry and he cursed himself for standing there so long, not taking her somewhere warmer.For waiting until she started going into shock before thinking to move to the fire.

Around him, around where he stood holding Meirionnydd were four Medjai guards.There backs were turned to him, watching out into the darkness and their blades were held ready to defend their First Medjai, should the need arise.

She gripped the front of his robes when he began to let go and made a sound that could have been the word no.Deprived of his warmth, her trembling increased.Without another thought he picked her up and started to carry her into the camp, toward the fire.He heard the others follow.

It must have been hours.They had cleaned up the camp and over next to the fire had taken out Ardeth's tent from his pack on the horses and put it up.

"I thought you might need it." Rashid explained as he fell into step with Ardeth."Her tent was destroyed by the fires and when I saw you out there…"

"Meaning!" he snapped, regretting his word a moment later.

"Meaning that Meiri would need somewhere to sleep privately and away from the men, nothing more." Rashid answered calmly.Ardeth stumbled. "Ardeth, you are exhausted, let me care for her – you care for yourself and get some rest."

"No," he said, firmly but not unkindly."But come with me, my brother.Watch over us."Rashid bowed solemnly and followed him into the tent, where he set her down on his bed and knelt close beside her.

**

Cold… 

Pain…

She wanted to sleep.How could she ever sleep again?She'd killed… taken a life… his blood was on her…

"No…" she moaned, and started pulling at the blood soaked clothes she wore, getting more and more frantic when they wouldn't come off her, but stuck to her body and her fingers.Someone caught her hands and pulled them away from her body.

"Meirionnydd," a soft voice murmured.She knew she should recognise it, but she couldn't find a name.She couldn't find anything inside her head, just the blood – another person's blood on her hands."Stop.Enough!"

"Please… take it off," she whined, still trying to pull at her clothing.Strong but gentle hands held her wrists firmly, pulled her closer and wrapped his arms around her.She struggled, taking in deep breaths – sandalwood… a man's scent… familiar and welcome… Ardeth?

"I cannot, little one…" His voice was full of regret."But I will find you some fresh clothes and bring you water for washing."

He started to let her go, but he was holding back the fear and the pain and the blood.If he went… if he left her… "Ar-deth," she hiccupped.

"I will return."

"Please!"She held him tight, until her fingers ached, as though her life depended on him being there, being with her… holding her.

"I will return." He stroked her hair; the rhythm of his fingers brushing through her silken locks was a heartbeat… calm and sure.She felt herself breathing in time, starting to drift until she felt her arms growing heavier and they fell from the death drip she had on the front of his soft black robes.

Soft and black…!She longed for the soft black of oblivion, but each time she closed her eyes the image of the man whose life she had taken swam up before her… and all she could see was the red of his blood, bathing her hands and her body… and the glassy stare of his dead eyes.

"No!" she whimpered as her body went tense… each muscle contracting as if in pain.

**

Ardeth pushed her back to arms length and quickly cupped her face between his hands, finding her eyes with his he said, "Meirionnydd, listen to me.That man would have killed you.You acted in self defence."

"No…" she sobbed.She wasn't hearing him. "I can't… I…Help!"

"Damn it, Meirionnydd!" He felt helpless, fighting against culture and conditioning and his overwhelming, almost painful need to take away her pain.His conflict expressed itself in the mild profanity he used.

"Ardeth, in Allah's name will you do as she asks." Rashid broke in on his torment, sounding as anguished as he felt."These are exceptional circumstances.I will vouch for your proper behaviour but if you do not act…"

Ardeth sighed and closed his eyes.He knew that Rashid was right.Sometimes, thankfully rarely, young Medjai warriors could not reconcile their first kill with the peace and respect for life they were shown throughout their childhood and they became lost.Wandering until someone showed them a way to balance the black and the white within.Making a decision his eyes snapped open.

"Go and get me water and my spare undershirt." he said to Rashid.He heard his friend obey without question."Meirionnydd…"

"Meiri," she whispered, almost childlike.

The knot tightened around his heart.She sounded so vague, so hurt… his mind leaped.Hurt… was this blood on her clothing _all from the man she had slain?_

"Meiri, I need you to tell me if you are hurt?" he tilted her head up from where it had fallen onto his shoulder.She let out a sob, instead of telling him with words, she sobbed.

Once again he eased her away from him and gently examined her body with the careful touch of his fingers, along her arms… over her shoulders…She winced but reached up to take his hand.

"I hurt _here," she sobbed, and pulled his hand down to cover her heart…. pressing his touch against her chest beneath her own small, cold hand."And I'm afraid…I don't know how to stop…"_

"Ssshhh," Uncomfortable, he eased his hand from beneath hers and placed the tips of his fingers over her lips."For now… for this moment… just trust that you have done nothing wrong."

Behind them the door to the tent opened and Rashid returned with water, soft cloths that served for both washing and drying, and Ardeth's undershirt.

"Turn around," he said softly to her as Rashid set the items beside him on the ground and returned to his place by the door.She looked up at him, confusion in her eyes. He repeated, "Turn around," and put gentle pressure on her shoulders, particularly gentle on the injured one, to get her to turn her back to him.

Carefully, breathing deeply he reached over her shoulders, his fingers traced around the shape at the top of the gown to come together at the centre, where the buttons brushed against his knuckles.Taking extra care not to touch more than necessary he unfastened them and eased the garment back over her shoulders and her arms.She winced again as the fabric caught the semi dried blood on her injury.

"Sorry," he murmured.

His breathing shuddered slightly as he breathed out slowly, watching the goose bumps forming on the pale yet slightly olive skin of her arms and her back.Picking up the length of her hair, he swept it over the side of her left shoulder, exposing more of her smooth skin to his gaze.

His hands trembled slightly as he reached for one of the cloths to wet it and clean away the blood from her neck and shoulder.The warmth of the water against his fingers did little to banish the gathering ache deep inside him, waking in him feelings most inappropriate for the moment.He fought with himself to keep his mind and body on the task in hand.

"In the end, Meiri," he said gently, dabbing the wet cloth tenderly against her wounded shoulder. "It is our motive that makes the difference between right and wrong.It is the way we use what abilities and powers we have that defines us as good," he touched his fingers gently to the side of her neck, to tilt her head to the side.Under his fingers her pulse scurried like a startled mouse.He breathed in deeply."Or ill."

"He'd come to take me back…" she whispered, her voice as faint as shape in the desert at noontime.

"Ssshhh," he soothed, watching the water change colour as he rinsed the cloth.He squeezed out much of the excess water and returned the soft cloth to the skin of her neck. Trails of water ran down her back, like tears and in reflex he caught then on the side of his hand.She shivered as his fingers made such light a contact against the back of her shoulder and he responded with a light tremor of his own.

With a deep breath he allowed himself to ease the cloth forward, off her shoulder, to clean the underside of her chin, and to move lightly over her chest.He willed himself not to notice the slight swell of the curves her body presented, to keep his breathing even when every breath felt to him as though it took and eternity to reach his lungs and a mere heartbeat to find freedom.

**

A warm, tender touch moved over her body… over her heart – easing the chill like the sun rising over the snow covered peaks of her homeland.She felt that warmth behind her, thought her, solid and as strong as those mountains… her touchstone… her strength.

"I was but twelve when I took my first life, little one."She allowed the sound of his voice to draw her back to herself… _closer to home… His hand left her, a momentary loss, and she felt herself drift again.She kept falling away until the touch returned and tenderly, carefully and equally slowly he began to dry of the worst of the water she could now feel from her neck and shoulder and chest.She started hearing his words, not just the soft murmur of his voice, understanding their meaning."And then, as now, with each life that hangs balanced on the cut of my blade or the touch of my finger to the trigger of my gun I ask myself what right have I to end this life before me?"She shivered as his fingers caught lightly, accidentally on the side of her bust as he eased the soft black garment over her head.Guiding her arms through the sleeves brought him closer, his head beside hers and he whispered, "The moment you stop asking that question... __that is when you need to question your own morality."_

"Ardeth… thank you," she said, so quietly, hardly daring to disturb the delicate balance returning to her heart with the sound of her voice. She half turned, still framed in his arms, her face so close to his that she could feel the sweet caress of his breath against her cheek."I'm a little lost… I think."

"No," he said equally softly, "I would not let you stray that far."

His eyes flickered down to her lips, and then back to her eyes, _I would not stop you… she could almost see the light in them, slowly returning, reflected in the dark mirrors his eyes had become.He moved, to sit back a little and to take her hand in his and rolling up the sleeve of his shirt, which almost smothered her, lowered the hand gently into the water._

"I think I already have," she said mournfully as he did the same for the other hand, and picked up the wetted cloth again.

"No," he told her again, and moved to sit right beside her and gently brushed her hair back from her face. She closed her eyes as his fingers fell against her forehead and he tenderly began cleaning away the spots of blood. "Do you feel this?"

"Yes," she whispered, barely breathing.

"And now?" A soft dry cloth brushed over her cheeks, the softest of touches, barely touching at all, lifted off the droplets of water.

"Soft," she breathed."Gentle."

"Take your hands out of the water and look at them."

"No." she moaned slightly, and bit her lip.

"Yes." She began trembling as she lifted her hands from the water and she dropped her gaze from his to look down at her hands."The stain is gone and now you must forgive yourself.You have examined your heart.It is enough."

"But how can I…?"

"Enough!"He wrapped the cloth around her hands and dried them between his own."And now, you must rest."He murmured.As he had dried her hands she leaned against him, her head against his shoulder.She closed her eyes, listening to the echo of his heartbeat, his breath. "And when morning comes, wake with the light, little one."

"But the dark frightens me," she whispered, and one of her hands crept up to rest against the middle of his chest so that she could feel that strong steady heart more clearly.

"There is no need for fear."His arms closed around her, supporting her, then he tilted her face upward, toward his and looked deeply into her eyes."Light shines brightest in dark places."His words released a soft rain of tears, cleansing tears.He shook his head and gently pressed the lightest of kisses to her brow."Sleep…" he murmured."I will watch over you."


	9. What Have I Done?

Power Is 9

Chapter 9 

_They stood, solid, like the pillars that upheld the many temples and the palace of the fine city of __Thebes__.He nodded as he walked slowly down the line of his fellow Medjai warriors – Sacred Bodyguards to the God Incarnate, Pharaoh Seti – and THEY were the pillars that underpinned the safety of all __Egypt__._

__

_"Duty above all, Ma'nakhtuf," he admonished his second in command lightly, following his gaze to the balcony of the Royal Princess's chambers, where Nefertiri looked out over the courtyard of the palace._

__

_"First Medjai," Ma'nakhtuf lowered his gaze and inclined his head briefly._

__

_Duty above all, even friendship.Sekhemkare sighed, knowing the torment his friend was going through.Ma'nakhtuf had confided in him several months before, of his growing love for the Princess and hers for him… but it could not be… it would never be… and if Seti were to discover the truth of the involvement of his daughter with her bodyguard… He shuddered at the thought._

__

Ardeth shuddered in his sleep as a draught crept over where he lay, his arms wrapped around the small slight figure that slept with her head on his shoulder.She moaned slightly in her sleep,

"Medjai," she whimpered and he turned his head toward her…

_He turned his head to look at the opposite balcony.Light burned within - no doubt Seti's mistress awaited the touch of His magnificent hand… all was we…_

__

_"Medjai!"The alarmed cry penetrated to his gut."My father needs you!"_

__

_Looking up to the balcony from whence the horrified cry came, he saw Nefertiri pointing into the chamber his eyes had just left… _

__

_"Ma'nakhtuf, your Lady!" he commanded.The Royal Princess, as much as her father, needed some measure of protection, for if anything happened to Seti, it would be she that carried the royal line until Rameses could be officially crowned.Without another thought he set off at a run.His bare feet slapped quickly against the marble floor, the cold night air chilling the muscles of his naked legs as if to spite his need for haste._

__

_He threw himself against the closed doors of Anck-Su-Namun's chamber – he could hear the cries from within and it grabbed the only part of him that had ever been anything, that had ever mattered… and with a huge cry he launched himself one last time at the gilded doors, and together with the combined weight of his fellow Medjai warriors the doors gave way, and they raced within, toward the drapes by which the evidence of a terrifying crime was masked._

__

_Grabbing the curtain he threw it to one side and almost fell back against his companions.His heart constricted in his chest and his blood chilled as the body of his Lord Pharaoh lay against the cold marble, as dead as the stone beneath him._

__

_Unable to move more than to raise his gaze to look into the bitter cruelty that shone from Anck-Su-Namun's eyes, he silently pleaded with her for explanation._

__

_"My body is no longer his temple!" she spat, and raised a jewelled dagger which she plunged into her own belly.She cried out – it was not a cry of pain, but of triumph and her cold eyes locked with his as she fell forward onto the knife._

__

_Horrified beyond belief he knelt beside her and turned her onto her back, watching as the life left her treacherous body._

__

_Egypt__, Oh __Egypt__… what will become of you now?_

__

_He shuddered… As bodyguard to Pharaoh, he would obey Rameses every thought… as a man… as a man he detested the very air that gave Rameses life… but there was nothing he could do, nothing that would hold back that which inevitably must be.With a huge sigh he stepped over the body and out onto the balcony._

__

_He held her in his arms… was cradling her head against his tattooed chest.They were speaking together, close… private.Sekhemkare watched as he nudged her chin up… could he allow them this… could he grant them one last kiss?_

__

_"Pharaoh Seti is dead."He cried out, spotting Rameses coming from his latest mistress' chamber to investigate the fuss.Across the courtyard Nefertiri and her Medjai lover moved apart, both looking his way as though betrayed.He shook his head sadly._

__

_"Mourn all __Egypt__… my father is dead!I am unto my Brother and Husband alone, that he may once again make __Egypt__ whole and bring her in flower…"Nefertiri looked right into him as she forced the words from her throat.It could have been grief for her father, but he knew better.Her voice cracked and she could not continue._

"Nefertiri… Evelyn!" He gasped, drowning in a sudden wave of grief. His eyes snapped open and fixed on the dark canvass ceiling.His heart pounded and for a moment he couldn't remember where he was, who he was.He tried to sit up, but could not move.

A weight against his shoulder dragged his awareness back to the present… another weight, lighter, across his chest.He took in a deep breath and the warmth beside him moved, the arm across his chest clutched him tighter and a soft voice, in sleep, murmured his name.

Adrenalin surged through his body as he turned his head slowly to see Meirionnydd nestled in to his side with her arm thrown across him.Her breath, coming in soft puffs against his neck and shoulder where his robes had shifted in his sleep, drove little spirals of an altogether different feeling surging through him in its wake.

Moving slowly, painfully slowly, he slipped his fingers along her arm to find her hand.He picked it up and gently moved from beside her.She murmured, and he held his breath as her hand reached out when he let it go, but she did not wake.She merely curled herself into a little ball in the space where his body had been.Carefully he picked up a nearby blanket and covered her, taking a moment to tenderly push a strand of hair from her cheek and hook it behind her ear.Then silent as only a Medjai can be, he stood and walked from the tent.

He moved quickly away from the door of his tent, as though his being there somehow incriminated him in something unspeakable.He paced back and forth, until his breath burned in his lungs and his head started to ache from all the angry damning thoughts he cast at himself.He did not consider his own fatigue to be mitigating circumstances for dishonouring a woman in his protection by sleeping with her – even staying with her alone was bad enough, but sleeping… with her in his arms… and with such feelings running through his blood?

He growled and kicked at the sand and the sudden movement brought a lance of pain shooting up from his hip. _Idiot!Damned irrational careless fool!He could not believe he had allowed himself to leave the wounds from his battles untended.With another vehement curse he turned and stalked angrily toward the fire._

Omran looked up as he stormed over and all but ripped off the sash that held his robes closed and shrugged his shoulders to drop his heavy outer robes to the ground.As he dealt with his wounds, and fixed a dressing in place on his swollen arm he returned Omran's steady gaze.

"Is there something on your mind, Omran?" he asked tersely.

"He said she saved your life, Ardeth."

"Who did?"He frowned in confusion, suddenly realising just how exhausted he truly was.

"Rashid… he said the girl saved your life tonight."Omran tossed another jar of ointment to him and he caught it left handed."That he was trying to get to your side but was beset by the Karhan and could not… could but listen while the man that sought to take her from you threatened your life."

Ardeth's mind reeled and for a moment he felt light headed.Several deep breaths did nothing to dispel the dizziness caused by the sudden addition to the torrent of thoughts and emotions writhing around inside him like a nest of angry scorpions.She had saved his _life?Merciful Allah, could this get any more complex?_

"Where is he?" he asked, having to force the question past a lump in his throat.

"Standing sentry," Omran said and when Ardeth started to get up he added, "My chief, you need to rest."

He began to argue, but his tired muscles refused to cooperate and he was forced to accept that Omran was right.He was exhausted, hurt – both emotionally and physically – and he needed to sleep.

**

_He stood watching her cruel beauty, gazing at her in admiration, but hatred – how strange that love so quickly turns dark when betrayed.How strange that it should be so at all._

__

_Love endures…she had told him that once as they lay shrouded together in the secrecy of his private chambers and guarded by his ever faithful priests.What a lie!He saw now that he had been little more than a convenience to her… a way for her to gain the power that Pharaoh had not been man enough to give. She had used him to bring her power._

__

_But then no…He mind spun backwards…_

__

_"Evelyn, no!" The man that hung beside him on the ledge had tried to stop her from coming to his side… Nefertiri, though she used a different name, had not listened; her love for him was stronger than that.Stronger than the risk of death… _

__

_Perhaps they were the key… _

__

**

Her shoulder ached, her back ached and she wished they would stop.They'd been riding since early morning and it was now approaching the middle of the afternoon.The mood was sombre.Hardly anyone had spoken, beyond practical information being passed from one of the Medjai to another, and Ardeth not at all.

She felt miserable because she knew it was her fault, that somehow, what she had done last night was unacceptable and had destroyed what growing closeness had been forming between them.

Fighting back tears she pulled up the veil that one of the Medjai had given her to wrap around her shoulders and head to shield her against the sun – since Ardeth's shirt kept slipping – to hide her misery.

She wanted to apologise.To ride up there to him at the front of the troops and tell him she was sorry… that she was upset and she didn't know what she was doing… what she was saying.

She yelped when a nearby Medjai leaned over and pulled the reins from her hand and pulled her horse in close to his.A second warrior moved in close to the other side.Just as before… the day before when she had been all but shrouded in the hardened warriors.Her heard sank in fear as she glanced around to try and see the trouble.

There was a rider approaching at speed… he was too far away to see who he was, but the Medjai chose caution anyway, until Ardeth barked a command and every single one of them, except him, drew to a halt and started dismounting.Ardeth rode off toward the incoming man.

"Ghalib," she spotted a man she recognised."What?"She gestured toward the other man.

"Medjai," Ghalib answered, not having the English for a better explanation.

"The rider is one of our brothers," Rashid's voice, from the other side of the horse made her jump."Ardeth has said we should rest.Do you want to get down?"

She nodded and he reached up to help her and then turned away as soon as she was safely on her own two feet.She caught his arm.

"Rashid… please tell me what I've done wrong."Her voice trembled.She saw him frown in confusion.

"You have done nothing," he said, a slight query in his voice.

"They why is he being so cold?Why is he ignoring me?"She bit her lip at the added misery those two ideas brought her surfaced."The tension here is unbearable,"

"Meiri," Rashid took her gently by the shoulders."You remember what I told you – how best to understand him?"She nodded and opened her mouth to speak, but he interrupted."Then understand that last night, his needs as a man interfered with his duties as First Medjai… he is confused.And there is no tension here, it is just that the men are tired" One of his hands on her shoulder shifted slightly and told her meaningfully, "It was a hard battle… for all of us."

**

The tension was unbearable.It was eating away at him that he couldn't find a way to make peace with himself.He wanted to blame Rashid, for letting him get too close to Meiri – for letting him behave as he did and then leaving him alone, leaving them to sleep wrapped up in each other as they were when his duties as chaperone were clear.He should have woken Ardeth and brought him away from her.The truth was it wasn't Rashid's fault.The only one at fault was him.

He growled and spurred his horse forward faster toward the incoming Medjai rider, a messenger he supposed, and as he shifted his grip on the reins, his arm burned where it was still terribly swollen with the cut to his muscle.He welcomed the pain.It reminded him what a damn fool he'd been.

"Ardeth…" The other rider greeted him breathlessly as they both eased their animals to a halt.

"Mahmoud, why are you here?Has something happened?" Ardeth snapped.He'd told the man he was to stay with Evelyn.To guard her… he cringed when he remembered his choice of words to the men he sent with her… as though she carried his life – as if she were his own.What was the _matter with him lately?_

"Nothing has happened my chief," Mahmoud answered.

"Then why?" he frowned, more at himself than Mahmoud.Taking a deep breath he let it out slowly.The man was a good warrior and a faithful trusted companion.There would be a perfectly good reason.

"The O'Connells are no longer in Cairo.The brother, Jonathan, he came to them with something he found… the second part of the artefact that was concealed behind the stone slab and the woman insisted on going to investigate."

Ardeth sighed.That sounded like Evelyn, but why hadn't they simply just left him a message?A creeping sense of dread stole over him.It made him look back over his shoulder towards his men.

His eyes found her easily, although she should have been lost inside a sea of black robes and horses, his gaze settled on her as though he knew exactly where she would be.She was staring out over the desert, fiddling with the edges of the bandages that peeked from beneath the rolled back sleeves of his shirt – ridiculously big for her – as though they bothered her.He sighed.He would have to check her injuries, to make sure they were healing well.

"And what happened?" he asked Mahmoud, not taking his eyes off Meiri for a moment, feeling somehow that she was more a part of all this than just the seer for the man that had returned Anck-Su-Namun to the world.

At that moment she looked up and met his eyes.He was struck by her sadness, a lonely sense of longing.His breathing quickened and his fingers curled tighter around the reins.His horse sidestepped, sensing his sudden anxiety.

"They found a shrine."Mahmoud's words dragged his eyes away from Meiri's.

"To whom?"

"Usert, but with a hidden chamber beneath containing a statue of the God Suti." Mahmoud paused and Ardeth raised an eyebrow to encourage him to continue."The brother fell into the chamber from above.He was unharmed but has since been behaving… oddly."

"Oddly?"

"He dreams.They are not good dreams," Mahmoud turned his eyes away.

Breathing out slowly, Ardeth nodded and then reached over to lay a hand onto the shoulder of the Medjai with him."You did right in coming to me Mahmoud.How far from here?"

"They journey took me a little under a day," he answered, but then Ardeth saw him look over towards the rest of the Medjai.He saw him reassess his estimate."Perhaps a little over a day with the woman, God willing."

**

"Failed?"Anton stormed over to where Anck-Su-Namun sat examining the small hieroglyphic markings on the cradle of the sistrum."What do you mean _failed?"_

"I mean, failed."She said calmly without looking up. "Your little man decided to forget his part in the plan."

"They defeated Suti's finest?" Anton mocked.

Anck-Su-Namun jumped to her feet and before he could put any real distance between himself and the creature he had summoned, she snapped out a hand and clamped her fingers around his throat.

"Be _very careful what you say of His warriors," she warned in a voice that was low and resonant.Shivers ran up and down the length of his spine and he clawed at her hand, needing to be free… needing to be able to breathe.She waved the sistrum in front of his face, like a cobra trying to hypnotise its prey."You may one day find yourself facing one… perhaps even Suti Himself."_

"I… I meant no disrespect," he gasped."I was just surprised, that's all.That the Medjai should defeat…"

"Perhaps it is the Medjai you disrespect!" She opened her hand and he dropped to the ground like a stone. "Or perhaps it is just that you cannot accept that Bay was a better man than your father."

Rage, hotter than anything he had every felt before swept thought Anton's body at the mention of his father and the bastard that had murdered him.Cut him down in cold blood without even the courage to face him.Kareem Bay had stabbed his father in the back… had crept up being him and pulled him back onto the deadly point of his blade.That made him a coward. A miserable bloody coward.He launched himself at the one that dared to suggest otherwise as she was walking away from him.

He didn't even get close.She raised her hand and he hung in the air, mid leap as he strove to reach her and wrap his own hands around her slender neck.Slowly she turned to him, an amused expression on her face.

"Know this, little nobody, the Medjai have been here for as long memory reaches.This prophesy has been attempted before and it has always been the Medjai that have stood between Suti and those that would have him awakened.The only thing that can make it any different this time is not underestimating them, particularly not their First Medjai.Ardeth Bay, as his father before him, and his sire also… as far back as Sekhemkare in my time, they are all strong men of honour.There has always been something in them that kept the dark in abeyance. If we are to succeed where all the others have failed we must find a way to weaken them, to compromise that honour and we won't do that by getting emotional and not thinking."She lowered her hand and gently put his feet back under him and her voice hardened."So forget about your father – you remain only as long as you amuse me.Remember that."

She shook the sistrum lightly as she waked away.Still angry, but shocked into inaction, Anton stood impotently staring after her.He had been a fool to ever allow her access to the bell which had summoned her.He shuddered as he watched her – perhaps the Medjai were not the only ones he had underestimated.Well _that was a mistake he could rectify._

**

_He almost laughed.So that was what she thought… that was what she wanted… to raise Suti?Was that really what she thought the music of the sistrum promised… the return of the great God Suti alone?Great Lord of the Dead, had the woman learned nothing!_

__

_The gods abhor imbalance.If Suti returned so too would Asar Saa or perhaps even – if his own understanding of the prophesy were correct – his son… reborn upon the earth to continue the conflict so earnestly fought before even his own time._

__

_A sudden thought and his ethereal face creased in confusion.But how…?By his own understanding the man, Anton she had called him before, had rendered the prophesy unreachable by his murders.By his hand all of the Usertim already travelled the dark plains of the underworld, unless…_

__

_A half smiled found its way onto his face.Perhaps he could yet profit from this fortunate turn of events… he had but to ensure that he were in the proper place when the moment came._

**

He pushed them on as much as he dared with one badly injured warrior and a woman in his charge.Just as the sun began dipping toward the desert he held up his hand and gave the order to make camp.

Ardeth got down from the saddle and tried to stretch out the kinks from his own back, where he had been riding unevenly, favouring his own aches and injuries.Rashid passed close by and he caught his friend's eye.

"Will you help Meirionnydd and explain to her the change in plan?"

Rashid looked at him, sighed and shook his head."I am sorry, but I think this is something you should do.

"I cannot be alone with her again, Rashid," he answered tersely."Already I have crossed the line of decency and should any one of these men wish to press the point…" his face creased with frustration."In Allah's _name, Rashid, what were you __thinking!"_

"You really think they would, Ardeth?" Rashid asked, holding his annoyance in check, "These men are your chosen, my friend… as close to you as blood and she saved your life last night, the life of their First Medjai… the life of their brother.Why would any of them, me included, deny her the comfort she needed and needs still?You either for that matter."

"That is not the point," he answered uncomfortably.

"Then what _is the point?" Rashid finally snapped."That you don't know where she fits into this mess?Just for once in your life, Ardeth Bay, will you stop thinking like a Medjai and start behaving like a man!She fits in because she is __here and she needs our help… __your help."_

"It is not as easy as that."Ardeth sighed.

"Yes.Yes it is.It is that simple."Rashid guided his gaze to where Meirionnydd still sat on the horse.She looked weary."And I think she's going to sit up there all night unless you get her down."He started to walk way leaving Ardeth astounded at his friend's attitude until he turned back and fixed him with a look that contained no humour at all."Just be very aware, my friend, she also saved my life… twice.If you do anything to hurt her, I will probably kill you, First Medjai or not."

Ardeth looked at the ground and then sighed.He wished he could accept what Rashid had said… that it was as simple as the fact that they were two people with growing feelings for one another.He sighed again."No matter if I act or not I probably will," he said under his breath to his retreating childhood friend."Only you won't have to."

He shook his head to clear away the thought… it would do him no good to dwell on it, so instead he approached the side of the horse that Meirionnydd rode.As he drew level with her she turned and looked down at him with the same sad and lonely expression her eyes had held earlier that day.

"I am sorry," he said quietly and held up his arms to her."Let me help you down."

She swung her leg over the horse's neck and leaned down to rest one hand on his shoulder; the other slipped to his bicep and put pressure on his wounded muscles as she came down.He winced and tightened his arms around her waist to reduce the pressure of her fingers.

"Ardeth, you're injured." She took her hands off him as soon as her feet touched the ground, leaving him to balance her.

"It's just a scratch." He shook his head and tried to smile, "It will heal."

"You must let me look at it," she told him as they started to walk toward where the Medjai were setting up camp.

"Perhaps," he conceded, not wanting an argument."When all is settled."

"The hell with, when all is settled!" she snapped, and he looked down at her in surprise."After all you've done for me it's the least I can do.And your men are more than capable of setting camp.They don't need you hovering around them like a mother hen.They can probably do it in their sleep."

Ardeth smiled wryly, looking back out into the camp to find his friend's back.He shook his head.She had been talking to Rashid.

**

He walked with the space of another person between them.Another Medjai custom, she suspected… it was certainly difficult for her to understand all the little things that seemed to mean so much to him.She suddenly wondered if she should be talking to him at all.A moment later she felt him looking at her and risked glancing at him.In the gathering dusk, his hair half hidden by the turban he wore, his head turned her way, his dark eyes reflecting the glowing sky he looked truly magnificent.Her breath caught in her throat.

"Is something wrong?" he asked.

"No," she swallowed."Nothing… I just…I just wanted to apologise for the way I behaved last night.I don't remember much, but I think I made a fool of myself."The words came tumbling out before she could stop them and her face flushed in their wake, turning as red as the sky she had seen reflected in his eyes.She looked away, down at the sand.

He stopped walking before they got any closer to the centre of the camp and closed the gap between them, to catch her arm.The moment she too stopped walking he released her but he did not move back and his nearness made her hold her breath.

"It is I that should apologise," he said fixing her with an intense gaze that served only to twist her insides into tight little whirls of anticipation."I have not thanked you for what you did for me last night.In fact I have not spoken one civilised word to you all day.That is unforgivable."

"You have a lot on your mind. You're busy, you…"He held up his hand and she stopped speaking at once.

"You saved my life," the hand he had raised he placed down gently onto her shoulder."For that, you will always be dear to me."

She thought she heard the unspoken, _but further that that we cannot be, and tears came into her eyes.She tried to blink quickly, to stop him from seeing them but she knew even as she did that she was already too late he turned his head onto on side in query._

"I'm sorry," she said faintly and looked away.

"Meiri," She heard him sigh."We must all of us bow to the will of Allah.There are many things we do not see, we cannot see or we should not see.I am here, for this moment that is all I can say."

When he took his hand from her shoulder she felt as though he had gone a million miles away.It made her look back in time to see him raise his eyes to the darkening sky.His shoulders rose and fell in a sigh that he somehow kept silent, as though he didn't want to disturb her with it.

Swallowing back her fear that she might be doing something wrong in reaching out to him she stretched her hand to take his.Her thumb traced the three pronged shape of the tattoo that graced the back of it and he looked at her, studying her as she watched the motion.She could feel his eyes almost like a touch.Then he lightly squeezed her fingers.

"It is all I know, ya soghair," he murmured, then freed his hand from hers and continued on to the centre of the camp.

She stood and watched him go; watched the way he circulated around his men, still tired from the battle of the night before, particularly those that had been injured and wished there were some way that she could crack that Medjai shell and find her way into his heart before he sent her away with the friends he had mentioned.She suddenly felt her time was very limited.

**

"That wasn't what I asked," Anck-Su-Namun paced animatedly back and forth in Anton's tent."How long will it take for us to reach the site where we will take the Armour?"

"Not long."Anton gestured to the seat opposite him, across the table that held their surprisingly lavish meal."We should not let this go to waste.My men have gone to great lengths to ensure we can eat well even on our journey."

"I'm not interested in eating!" she snapped.She pushed the plate away, but sat down anyway."I want that armour!We cannot raise Suti without it."

"And I wanted the girl, but did you deliver her to me?Did your tame Medjai or conjured creatures?" Anton answered sarcastically taking another mouthful of the food."Need I remind you that we need her to find the last of the bells and complete the sistrum?"

"The girl can wait and you need remind me of nothing." She snapped."There are other things we can gather along the way, and I _will deliver her to you."_

"Well then if the girl can wait, you can take time out to eat.You are no good to me so weakened that you cannot use Usert's power when we have assembled all the things we need."Anton pushed the plate back in her direction and watched when she reluctantly started to pick at the food.

"Oh don't worry." After many long moments of eating in almost companionable silence, she looked up and met his eyes for a moment."I will use Usert's power – and I will always be able to, weakened or otherwise."

Something in her eyes made Anton start to worry, when she smiled almost sweetly the worry turned to something more… and when she got up and came to sit in the chair beside him, he started to panic, particularly as her movement was accompanied by the first stirrings of nausea.

"What did you…?"

"You didn't honestly think I would fall for your cheap little trick did you?Didn't honestly think I would be careless enough to allow you to take control of the sistrum?"She scraped her fingernails across the back of his neck."Right now I'd guess you're feeling a little sick?"His eyes widened and he clutched at the side of the table, "Don't worry… I have it on good authority that the nausea doesn't last that long… but the visions aren't terribly pleasant so I understand."

"You switched the plates?" Anton managed to gasp.The world around him was starting to weave and dance around in bright colours that blurred the edges of the objects in the room.

"Nothing so crass and simple I'm afraid," Anck-Su-Namun sat back on the chair, he glanced at her, fighting to stop his eyes from closing."That's your domain, little nobody."

"Then how?"The words came out as a whisper.In kind she leaned in close, very close so that her breath tickled his ear.

"I am always amazed when people dabble with powers they do not understand.You should have researched your little toy properly Anton Ferrier," she whispered.It was the last thing he remembered before his eyes finally closed and he was cast into the blackness in his soul.

**

_She stood before the gaping dark doorway again, fear gripped her heart.This time she was alone and summoning all the strength she could she turned away from it.She wouldn't walk that way this time.She didn't want the fear, the pain it always caused.As she walked, the sand from her footsteps fell upward onto her clothes._

__

_The scene dissolved, and with it the strength she'd had to turn from the darkness.She was sitting in a temple of some kind, her hands were bound.Anck-Su-Namun was there with her, taunting her and there was pain in her wrist.She looked down; blood… blood on her hands, Dear God it was everywhere…!_

__

"No," she moaned lightly in her sleep, "Look at me… don't close your eyes."

__

_"I am here, Meiri.I am going to get you out of here."He lifted her down from a high ledge. She virtually fell into his arms and for a moment he held her close, kissing her forehead…He lifted her down from her horse, her hands found his shoulders and his hands, her waist as he guided her gently to the ground, almost lifting her down._

__

_"Do not be so difficult," he murmured.Her breathing quickened, her heart darted and danced about in her chest as his hands on her hips shifted slightly, becoming lighter, less supportive, more personal.His gaze intensified, almost suffocating her with the apprehension it kindled in the pit of her stomach as he started to lean toward her._

__

_"Meiri, NO!"A dark shape ran at her along the top of the dune.Strong arms around her… the sudden nature of his embrace took them both off balance and sent them both spinning off, to lie breathless at the foot of the dune.She looked up into dark brown eyes… his gaze intensified; he moved closer… lips captured her own, beginning a gentle and deep kiss that parted her lips._

__

_Still… silent… she raised her head from the cold flesh beneath, her eyes too full of tears to see… _

__

"Why do I feel this way?" She rolled over onto her back and pressed her hand against her chest, sobbing.

_He lifted her down from a high ledge.She virtually fell into his arms and for a moment he held her close. He lifted her down from her horse and she all but fell against him._

"Look at me," she whimpered.

_He lifted her down from her horse.He winced and tightened his arms around her waist to reduce the pressure of her fingers._

__

_"Ardeth, you're injured." She took her hands off him as soon as her feet touched the ground, leaving him to balance her._

__

_"It's just a scratch." He shook his head and tried to smile, "It will heal."_

"You will have to let me look at it." She mumbled.

_He was leaning against the horse.Her stomach knotted."Ardeth, you're hurt."_

_"It is nothing," he said faintly."Just a scratch."He meant to lift her down, but simply didn't have the strength, and she all but fell against him.He grasped for her suddenly and stumbled.She caught him automatically, her arm sliding around his waist.There was something wet against her arm and hand.She pulled it away to look at it.Panic knotted in her heart and her stomach felt as though it was falling._

__

_"Meiri…" he whispered, and sounded so far away._

__

"Don't… Please!"

_She looked down, he lay sleeping… is he sleeping…?A birds head, a falcon, and above the spreading wings of the Goddess Usert. Pain in her arm.She looked down expecting to see blood.A tiny ankh reddened the inside of her wrist.She raised her eyes, confused, to find his.He moved closer, weeping.His lips captured hers beginning a passionate kiss.Her lips parted and she met him breath for breath.She tried to hold him up, but she was much smaller and slighter than he was and the two of them fell to the sand._

__

_Wet._

__

_There was something wet against her arm and hand.She pulled it away to look at it.Panic knotted in her heart and her stomach._

__

"Look at me," Her voice shook."Don't close your eyes!"

__

_"Do not…" he whispered, raising a bloodstained hand to try and catch the tear rolling down her cheek._

"Ardeth…?"

_She stood before the gaping dark doorway again, fear gripped her heart. It swallowed her into the shadowy bowels of the tent.His eyes were closed and he looked as though he were just sleeping.She fell to her knees beside the low bier on which he lay and put her head onto his chest._

__

_The silence was deafening where there should have been a heartbeat_

"Ardeth…?"She was breathless in panic… breathless in loss.She tossed her head, flinging an arm over her face.

_She fought with tears and failed to hold them back.He stumbled again as she tried to help him into the camp, and he fell against her, his strength failing.She tried to hold him up, but she was much smaller and slighter than she was and the two of them fell to the sand.She felt as though her heart had shattered into a million tiny pieces._

"Ardeth…?ARDETH!"She screamed and struggled to surface from the dream."ARDETH!"

**

Her scream shattered the stillness of the desert night.He rolled to his feet and snatched one of his blades from its sheath beside him, and with a tug on the sleeve of the nearest of his men, who leaped equally quickly to his feet, ran toward the doorway of the tent and went inside.

He quickly saw that she was alone, her head turning from side to side.

"Ardeth," she sobbed his name a second time, louder than before.

"Bad dream?" Tayyib suggested. Ardeth didn't miss the way he backed respectfully to the doorway."You should waken her."

"Ar-deth!" she all but screamed.

"Right here, Meiri," he said, starting to pick her up.As soon as he did her eyes snapped open.Without truly seeing him she called his name again and he passed his hand gently over her tear-wet cheek."I am here, Meiri.It was just a dream.I am here and you are safe."Through the light contact, where he held her by the shoulders, he could feel the mixed tremors of something that had shaken her to the core and the sobs of a grief so intense he could see it clearly in her eyes.

She freed her hands from beneath the blankets laid them on his chest, his shoulders… at the side of his face and in his hair and for a moment her sobbing increased and he felt as thought she didn't believe he was really there beside her.

Almost by itself his left hand moved from her shoulder to rest against the side of her neck, his thumb softly stroking against her cheek.

"I saw you," she whispered."You…"

"Ssshhh," he soothed."Whatever it was, it was just a dream."Her rapid touching over him slowed and she pressed both hands to his shoulders, beside his neck.

"It was so real," she sobbed."Please… hold me."

"Meiri…"He tried to get her to look at him, so make her understand that this was wrong, that he shouldn't be treating her the way he was, but the softness of her skin against his hand battled with his resolve and when she cried his name in anguish he could hold himself in check no more.

He drew her forward until her head rested on his shoulder and he could cradle the back of her head with one long fingered hand in her hair at the base of her neck and began stroking the length of it with the other.She pressed herself against him as thought she craved his warmth, and her sobs shook her against his body until he could not longer stand her distress and or the way it pulled at the centre of his being and made him feel helpless in the face of it.He wrapped himself around her completely, and lowered his head beside hers, murmuring soft, deep and comforting phrases in mixed Arabic and English.

She turned her face toward him so that she was cradled beneath his chin and her tears ran against his skin.

"Why did you leave?" The words brushed her lips against his neck and his breath caught as tendrils of need to give her whatever comfort he could to take away the grief that wracked her body wound through him.His fingers once more crept up into her hair and he eased her head up from the crook of his neck until he could look down into her eyes.

"It was a dream.You must let it go," he said.He traced the shape of her face with the fingers of his other hand."Move past it, little one, it will not…"

"You were hurt," her voice cracked."And you died."

He felt as though everything drained out of him and it was an eternity before he took his next breath._One thing I can tell you about the journey you face… He fought the urge to get her to tell him everything she could about the dream, pushed it away so that he would not cause her further distress._

"Meiri, you must listen to me," he said, his voice little more than a quiet murmur in the sudden heart stopping silence he felt.He pulled her against him again and pressed his cheek against the top of her head, rocking her gently in his tight embrace."It was a dream.I promise you I will do everything in my power to keep safe.You must not fear for me."

"But…"

"No." he said firmly."Enough!"

He breathed in deeply and willed the calm to return to his own heart so that he could soothe her.He felt her wrap her small arms around his back and press her face into the folds of his robes more firmly against his chest.

As she began to calm, as her sobbing and trembling subsided her fingers began an absent little motion over his back.Even through his robes he felt their delicate flutter along his spine and without thinking he tenderly mirrored the action on hers.Each breath brought the awareness of the touch closer and closer to a fire uncoiling in the base of his spine, his eyes closed and he began to breathe in time with the movement of his fingers as he caressed her back.

"Meiri," he whispered, and she raised her head to look up at him as he opened his eyes. She looked, in that moment, the most beautiful, delicate desert flower he had every seen.

"She is calmed, my chief."Tayyib's soft voice in Arabic sounded right beside him and a hand came down on his shoulder.His Medjai companion crouched beside him."She will rest peacefully now, God willing."

Ardeth nodded, letting out the breath he had been holding slowly."Thank you, Tayyib."

"Please don't go," Meirionnydd curled her fingers over the top of his shoulders from behind, an attempt to stop him and the spark of fear returned to her eyes.

"I must." he told her and firmly but gently extricated himself from her grasp, settling her back against the skins that made his bed.With a sigh, he added in Arabic, "This is not good for either of us, my sweet angel of salvation."

"I don't understand," she told him as he ran his fingers through her hair to smooth it off her face, and pulled up the blanket to cover her.

"Sleep peacefully, little one."He shook his head and smiled sadly.Then he and Tayyib left the tent, to return to their place by the fire.

**

_Chaos was he friend… learning quickly what influence he might have in his present form he sped back and forth over the desert between the two groups converging on a single site.The Medjai, with the girl would be the last to arrive, but arrive they would while the battle would still be being fought.He knew the tall one would fight like the fiercest of warriors to protect his woman, and any attack on the shrine she would perceive as an attack on herself._

__

_That smile found its way onto his face again… if only she knew how very much of Nefertiri's personality remained a part of her._

__

_He scanned over the assembled company, relaxing in the morning sun before their day begun, unknowing what was heading toward them, trying to find an opened mind that could take him within the shrine.He need to see the words of the prophesy again… the thousands of years had taken their toll on his memory… and he could not enter alone._

**

"Evie, I don't care," Rick put down the cup from which he had been sipping tea."I still don't think we should have moved them."

"Rick, it's armour and weapons.No ancient inscriptions to read, no weird happenings…" she reached over and grasped his hand, "I mean apart from Jonathan nearly knocking the shrine to the ground when he fell into the chamber, absolutely nothing has happened…"

"That's what worries me," he interrupted in _that tone of voice._

"Oh you," she leaned her head against his shoulder and nudged him playfully.

He sighed, he could feel himself starting to buckle again – always where she was concerned.Still, maybe she _was right this time.They'd opened the shrine using the key and apart for Ardeth discovering a new fear of spiders and Jonathan slicing the side of his hand on hidden knives… and Jonathan falling through an ancient trap door into a hidden chamber… and Jonathan starting a chain reaction that had almost wrecked the shrine…Well okay maybe she wasn't right about __nothing happening, but at least they hadn't awakened any long dead, cursed mummies, cursed warriors who had sold their soul to the Egyptian equivalent of Satan or whatever, or triggered events leading to the next apocalypse.Maybe it would be okay this time._

"You expecting visitors?" Marshall came up behind where he snuggled with his wife.

"No," he said puzzled.

"Well Craig said there's a whole bunch of 'em," he said pointing out towards the edges of the camp."Coming this way too."

"Show me!" Rick jumped to his feet, starting to get a really big sinking feeling, but then maybe it was just Ardeth coming to find them.He sighed and followed Marshall to the side of the camp.He didn't need his spyglass to see that it wasn't an incoming band of Medjai warriors, but a mixed band of hired western heavies and natives… with guns.As if they had seen him watching the riders spurred their horses into a gallop. "Me and my big mouth!" he whispered under his breath.

"Huh?" Marshal gave him a thoroughly confused look.

"Never mind!" Rick tugged on his arm."You grab whatever weapons you got, and whatever force you can muster and get em the hell over here.Tarek!"

As he dashed back to his tent to retrieve as many of his own weapons as he could from his gunnysack, he met the Medjai coming in the opposite direction.

"What is it, O'Connell?"

"We're about to have company… a lot of company with a lot of guns." Rick told him.Tarek responded immediately by drawing his own weapons and heading toward where the front line would be.

"Stay with your wife!" he called back.

"Rick?" At the mention of her name, Evie came over to his side.He checked that one of his handguns was fully loaded, spun the barrel as he snapped it back into place and handed it to her.

"You know that trouble you wanted to avoid?Well it's coming this way."He gave her a push in the direction of a nearby fallen pillar that provided an excellent, almost safe bunker."Get behind there… and stay down."

"What about you?" she asked, putting a worried hand onto his shoulder.

"I'm going to see if I can stop as many of them from getting in as I can."

"Darling, please be careful," she moaned.

At the look on her face he leaned down and gave her a very quick kiss, and then pointed to the pillar."Now go!" he said urgently… it didn't occur to him that she went without an argument.

**

Another early morning after a disturbed night was taking its toll on Meiri and because of the gentle rhythm of the horse's steps she found herself getting almost sleepy in the saddle.More than once she had been startled awake by the touch of either Rashid or Tayyib's hand as they eased her upright once more when she threatened to fall.

"It is not much further, little one, and then you can rest."Her eyes flew open as she heard his soft voice beside her, where a moment ago, Tayyib had been riding."I am sorry.Did I startle you?"

She turned her head to regard the warmth from his dark eyes… all she could see through the covering he wore against the dust and desert sun.She remembered the sensations, the dancing spiral in the pit of her stomach when she had been held by him, looking up into that warmth the night before, and felt the echo of the feeling flush through her.He didn't even need to be touching her.She sighed… how could this have happened?How could she have fallen so deeply in love with a man to whom – she had become increasingly and distressingly aware – she would never be as he was to her?

"I think I was almost sleeping," she said sadly.She wanted to be so much to him it hurt."These friends of yours?" she asked, trying to change the subject in her mind, but the thought of his friends merely reminded her that he was going to send her away and she would never see him again.Never feel the soft touch of his fingers in her hair or his lips on her…

"Rick and Evelyn O'Connell," he said."She is English, he an American but they are married and they live in England now.They are good friends Meiri and I am sure that they will see you safely home."

_What if I don't want to go home?She did not speak the thought in her mind, instead she answered, "I see."_

_What if you are already home?_

The voice that purred through her was soft and sensual.It spoke to her in a language other than English, but she understood the words perfectly.She stiffened and felt Ardeth lean across to take the reins from her hand.

"Meiri?"

"I'm all right," she answered absently, pushing at the borrowed covering that shrouded her as though it were somehow blocking out the voice that whispered to her a longed for solution to the problem of how to stay."I just thought I heard…"

They were interrupted by an urgent phrase, shouted in Arabic by Mahmoud who was riding a little of the front of the group to lead the way.Meiri saw alarm, and then indecision enter Ardeth's eyes.Her heart leaped in momentary elation._He wants save his friends but doesn't want to take me into danger. She reached over to take back her reins._

"It's all right," she told him softly."Go.Save your friends."

The look he gave her in the next moment turned her inside out with the emotion it conveyed.Admiration, gratitude and a sense of love so fiercely protective it almost crushed her in its tender grasp.She gasped as he took her hand, wondering what he would do.He pressed it to his middle of his chest.

"Malayak lil qalbi… ghayeebi," he said, almost with a catch in his voice. She saw him shake his head lightly before released her hand and added."Stay with Rashid and Bursuq.I will come for you when it is safe."

"All right." She nodded and felt Rashid move his horse up beside hers.Evidently he had heard and brought Bursuq with him, who still, she thought, looked quite ill from his injury.Ardeth nodded to the two men, and then called to the others to ride.In spite of the brave face she was displaying, her insides knotted in fear as she watched him ride away.

"Allah if you can hear me," she whispered, "Please keep your servant safe."


	10. Possession

Power Is

Chapter 10

He ducked as a bullet whistled against the sand beside his head.There were two of them and they had him pinned down.A break came in the rain of bullets and he rolled up, bringing his guns to bear and sent a hail of his own bullets their way… but they were sheltering… sheltering behind the bodies of their horses.Rick shook his head.It was a god-awful thing to do.

The whine of a bullet ricocheted past his ear off the side off a piece of stone that had become uncovered by his constant sliding on the side of the dune, he tried to drop back down the curve of sand, but a second whine came out of the sun and a bolt of searing heat bounced along the top of his shoulder.He threw himself down, breathing hard and tried to resist the temptation to count the stars that had suddenly exploded in his head.Dear god it hurt!

With his head so close to the sand the first thing he heard was the thunderous sound of hoof beats.He closed his eyes and groaned.There was no way they were going to be able to fend of a second set of attackers – with so few in the camp anyway they were hardly holding off the first.Breathing hard, he tried to raise his head, to ignore that his shoulder felt as though someone had taken a hatchet to it…

"Ya-llaaaaah!" 

No sound had ever been sweeter to Rick in that moment than the sound of enraged Medjai flying into the fray.It gave him the strength to roll to his stomach and peep his head up over the top of the dune in time to see the two men that had previously had him pinned into place running in panic from a black robed giant of a man, atop a powerful Arabian stallion.He saw a flash of silver as a scimitar glinted in the sunlight as it was drawn from its sheath.It momentarily dazzled him, and when he looked again, the running men had separated.He snatched up one of his weapons from where they had somehow fallen to the sand.Aiming quickly, he squeezed the trigger and the man felt to the ground just as his partner in crime screamed.Rick turned his head in time to see the man go down in a spray of red as the scimitar sliced through him like butter.Breathing harder still with the extra pain the recoil had caused his injured shoulder, he fell back against the sand and slid lower down the dune.

The Arabian slowed, before leaping away again, and a black shape lowered to his side.He looked up as Ardeth pulled down the veil that was covering his face, his expression a picture of concern.

"Decided you wanted in on the action, huh?" he gasped, as the Medjai's eyes travelled over his body.He held out his uninjured arm toward his friend."Gimme a hand up would ya?"

"O'Connell, are you all right?" Ardeth asked, his deep voice full of concern.He clasped Rick's outstretched hand and braced him as he climbed to his feet.

"Just a little kiss, I'll be all right," he answered looking over at his shoulder.Trying to ignore the blood, he picked up his guns. He put one back into the holster, the other one he kept in his hand.

"I cannot leave you alone for a moment before you get into trouble, putting your nose in where it should not go." Ardeth said lightly.

"Believe me buddy, I would have been quite happy to leave this one well alone, but you know Evie," Rick shrugged, forgetting his injured shoulder until it bellowed in pain and threw more stars to cloud his vision.He felt Ardeth catch and steady him.

"Where is Evelyn?" he asked.

"Don't worry."Rick nodded that it was all right for Ardeth to let go."She's safe."

**

Evelyn yelped in surprise as one of the attackers decided that her sheltered spot would be an excellent place for him to hide and pick off his opposition one at a time.

"Oh no you don't," she murmured under her breath, though not quietly enough because he turned and gave her a most unsavoury grin.She wiped it off his face with a solid right hook.

She shook her hand, she'd hit him so hard it had hurt her knuckles.It hadn't pushed him back much but at least he had dropped his gun.It didn't do much to put him off however, in fact seemed to make him all the more determined to get to her.As soon as he could get his head back on an even keel, he started toward her again.

He reached out for her, grabbed her by the shoulders and started speaking rapidly and in Arabic.Ancient Egyptian she could manage, Hieratic also presented no problem whatsoever, but Arabic had somehow escaped her, all but a few selected phrases.

Feeling his hands on her made her feel almost physically sick, and his personal hygiene left a lot to be desire.As one of his hands slipped in a deliberate caress she balled her fist and brought in down hard into the centre of his gut."Ana la," as he doubled over and she joined both fist together and brought them up under his chin, "afham!"

He staggered backward and for a second only lay stunned against the fallen pillar, before black clad arms closed around his and pinned him in place.Evie looked up, startled and then alarmed at the look of outrage she saw in Tarek's eyes and by the long knife he held against the man's exposed throat.

"I think you understood perfectly, my Lady," he said and even as she opened her mouth to try and stop him, he pulled back on the knife and released the man, who felt lifeless to the sand.

"Tarek…" she said utterly shocked, perhaps it was the sun that was getting to her, or the left over smell of the now dead man who had attacked her, but she was starting to feel a little light headed.

"He touched you." Tarek said almost angrily."It is our way!"

"Well it _isn't my way!" Evie didn't know why she was so angry… what was the difference between shooting a man, as she had been doing since the beginning of the fight and taking his life with a blade?She moved back away from the creeping red stain on the sand._

"Forgive my, my Lady but my duty is clear." Tarek answered.He met her angry gaze with a steady expression."Come…Let me take you to safety."

Evie started to argue but a stray shot hit the pillar close by and showered her with shards of stone.Her gun was empty, she had no more ammunition… she had to take care of herself.Wordlessly, she nodded.

**

A blazing battle was always the perfect cover for sneaking into somewhere you were not supposed to be.But Anck-Su-Namun was not the kind to sneak.She walked… boldly… her steps conveyed a sense of ownership.

Her boldness made Anton feel nervous, a nervousness heightened by the battle around him and the sudden appearance of his black robed nemeses.

"This is insane!" he breathed urgently.

"Exhilarating," Anck-Su-Namun corrected him, and curled her fingernails into his shoulder."Don't worry, my little friend, they'll keep them busy until we're done here."She exaggerated her concern and sneered, "I'll keep the big nasty Medjai away – don't you fret."

Anton slapped her hand away and she laughed as she entered the shrine.He followed her moments later, jostled by the two men whom she had awed into obeying her every command.

Almost immediately he set his eyes on the armour and he felt a flush of admiration for its beauty, but did not underestimate the danger it presented to any man touching his hand to the cruel power of the ancient artefacts.

In front of him, Anck-Su-Namun ran her fingers lovingly over the gold, obsidian encrusted breast plate, and picked up the sword, swinging it through a circle.It was impossible not to feel the power humming through the chamber as she touched the blade.

"You feel him, don't you Anton?" she purred."Do you know what it feels like for a woman?"She closed her yes and for a moment her head fell back and her face showed a picture of rapture.

_The man he controlled, a weak willed, terrified little foreigner, a man trying to be bigger than he was, crept in through the door of the shrine and for the first time with eyes that properly saw, he beheld the cruel beauty that had so intoxicated him – to his ultimate downfall._

__

_"Anck-Su-Namun," he murmured.It sounded strange coming from the mouth of his puppet._

__

_She turned as the newcomer entered and spoke her name, fixed the pale skinned man with a look of mixed threat and confusion and stalked toward him with her arm outstretched, holding the sword in front of her.Something in her expression told him she had heard more than just a stranger call to her._

__

_"You are not welcome here…" she hissed and laid the sword on the shoulder of the man.His puppet screamed, but he heard the voice of the blade – the angry hiss that penetrated through to his ethereal mind in an agonising intrusion._

__

_"Asar Saa… this is MY time… I will prevail!"_

__

_Horrified, he watched as Anck-Su-Namun pulled back the blade and almost effortlessly drove it into the heart of the man before her.The puppet cried out in disbelief, as too did he.Without a vessel, the energies of the shrine expelled the spirit of the Osirian High Priest to scream in impotent rage and hover outside, over the rapidly escalating battle._

"Are you in_sane!"Anton trembled as the enraptured look passed onto Anck-Su-Namun's face again as she pulled the blade free.He backed up as she turned toward him._

"Do not presume to know my mind, little man!" she hissed."Suti will come and all will be well… and if you get in the way…" she left the threat hanging and turned to the two others with them.

"I don't intend…" he started, but realised that she had already dismissed him.

"Pick it up… and bring me the pendant!" She snapped.They rushed to obey, already terrified by the display they had just witnessed.

**

"Meiri, stop pacing and come to sit down." Rashid caught her gently by the arm as she walked back and forth over the same ground.She looked down at the groove she was making in the sandy desert floor and then up into his concerned face.

"I can't help it, Rashid," she said quietly."I'm worried about him."

"He has taken with him ten of the finest warriors among the whole of the twelve tribes," he answered."Nothing will happen to him.Now come and sit down."He tugged on her arm to draw her closer to where the horses rested, and where his injured companion leaned against one of the saddle bags that Rashid had taken down to provide him with support.

"Are you Medjai _always this bossy?" she frowned in irritation, pulled her arm from his gentle grasp and turned to face the way the Ardeth had ridden, hoping to see him come riding back as he had promised._

Rashid chuckled and said playfully, "Bossy?I am only thinking of your welfare."

She sighed and finally came with him to sit down.She sat for a long time thinking of Ardeth… thinking of what it must be like for the women of the Medjai to live with the constant uncertainty of whether their husbands and brothers would return to them safely.It made her wonder more about the way the Medjai lived.Eventually she asked, "What is it like?"

"What is what like?" Rashid asked.

"Your home."

"Home is home," he said and sounded confused.

"Yes of course," she said, "but living out in the desert… it must be hard."

"It is relative, Meiri, to what you are used to.It is all I have known.All any of us have known so it is usual for us."

"Tell me about it," she reached over and squeezed his hand."Please."

"You think it will help you to understand Ardeth." Rashid took his hand from hers.

"Did I do something wrong?" she asked, indicating his hand.

"Not wrong exactly," he explained."Open and public displays of affection between a man and a woman are not usual among the Medjai."

She started to laugh and then realised he was serious."But we're not _in public."_

"Are we not?" He glanced over at Bursuq.She followed his eyes and then looked back to him.

"Oh come on Rashid," her tone was incredulous, "He's one person, and one of your brother's in arms at that, not a crowd."

"To the Medjai it makes no difference." Rashid explained patiently, "If you are not alone, then you are in public and if you are in public you display restraint."

"Even in front of your family?" Meiri frowned, wondering how many other customs she might have accidentally have broken since she had been with the Medjai.

"Less so, but yes."Rashid sighed, "Meiri, what is your real question?If you are asking me to explain why Ardeth will not act on the way he feels, I have told you that already.He _is his duty… first and foremost a Medjai warrior.What you really need to do to guard against becoming hurt is to understand your own feelings of love for him."_

"Who said anything about love?" Meiri snapped, his words penetrating to her heart, not words she wanted to hear.

"You did," Rashid told her, "And you do, with every breath you take when he is near.The way you speak; the way you behave; the tears in your eyes now when you fear he does not…"

"He said something to me before he left," she interrupted, not wanting to hear the words, _does not love you in the same sentence."What did it mean?"_

"I did not hear," Rashid said quickly… too quickly.

"What rot!" she threw the words at him."You people hear his every word, even if he hardly speaks louder than a whisper.What did he _say, Rashid?Please… I need to know."_

He looked at her for a very long time, until she became uncomfortable.She could almost see his internal debate.If Ardeth had wanted her to know he would have spoken the words in English… but then again, if he did not, he would not have spoken them at all.At last he sighed.

"He called you his salvation." He looked down at the sand between his feet."And named you the angel of his heart."

For a moment, Meirionnydd could not breathe.Her mind reeled and her senses turned inside out and screamed at her for mercy from the agony of separation from the man who so moved her, that she felt somehow incomplete without him.Fresh tears found their way into her eyes."Then why…?"

Rashid looked up and met her gaze."I do not know," he said and shook his head.

**

He didn't understand how the battle could still be raging.It seemed to have been going back and forth for far too long with neither side gaining the upper hand.There was something weird going on and suddenly, without any shadow of doubt, Jonathan Carnahan knew that it somehow originated inside the shrine.

Besides, his satchel was in there, with all his extra ammunition for his little gun and he needed that.He was almost out… _still he thought, __with Ardeth and his bunch here now it won't be much longer._

"You!"The shocked exclamation exploded from his mouth before he could find his way past the sudden paralysis of meeting Anck-Su-Namun in the doorway of the shrine.He tried to raise his gun, realising that's what he should do, but she was stalking towards him and instead he moved away in a circle until his back encountered the wall of the shrine.

"Mister Carnahan," she stepped up close and waved the sword under his nose, like she had the asp before. "So interesting to see that you're still poking around where you shouldn't be."

"Me?"He pressed himself harder against the wall as if he could pass through it to get away from her."No… you've got the wrong man again, really…" he swallowed, "I'm just here with my brother-in-law.You know what O'Connell's like."He squeaked when she put a hand onto his chest.

"I don't think you're quite telling me the truth, are you Jonathan?" She pouted, and started to unfasten the buttons on his shirt.

"Um… I say… now look here!" Under any normal circumstances, quite the ladies' man, he would have welcomed the thought of a beautiful woman undressing him… but this was not the place, or the time… and she was certainly not the woman."Now you're a nice girl and all that, but really…"

"I want the necklace, Carnahan." She stood on tiptoes and whispered the words against the side of his face as her fingers found their way inside his shirt, walking slowly toward the charm nestled warmly over the centre of his chest.

"Oh," he said, somewhat with relief, but then something happened.He suddenly felt as though someone had said to him the most offensive thing he had ever heard in his entire life.Anger flooded through him and his hands, once claws against the outer rock wall of the shrine came up to grab her wrists and pull them away from where her fingers just brushed against the obsidian and gold that had been warmed by the heat of his body.

_"Mine!"_

The word that came from his lips chilled his own blood.It made his throat ache and his head started pounding.Suddenly he wanted to call out for Rick, for Evie… anyone.In front of him, Anck-Su-Namun chuckled and moved back.

"Give it to me," she said in amusement.

_Yes, all right, go on… take it…Jonathan desperately tried to raise his hands to the necklace and tried to slip it off over his neck._

"Oh but you can't, can you?" Anck-Su-Namun pressed up against him again, her hands against his naked chest as she leaned up to whisper."Because you started to let him in didn't you?"

"I… erm…"He hated this.It was the same out of control feeling he'd had in his nightmare.Wanting to run… to get as far away from the woman as he could, but unable to move.

"Well if you won't give it to me…" she quickly snaked out a tongue and ran it over his cheek."I guess I'll just have to take you with me."

**

Fatigue.

He'd simply never felt so tired as he and Ardeth fought their way over toward where Tarek was fighting to keep Evelyn safe.Another head popped out from behind a dune and Rick let of a couple of shots while Ardeth fended off a closer attacker with the rapid thrusts of his scimitar.There was something wrong… something dreadfully wrong with the way this battle was going.He turned his head to look at Ardeth in time to see the Medjai intercept an incoming swing that wouldn't even have come close to hitting its target even if he hadn't brought the blade up to block it.

"Ardeth…" he started

"I know." The Medjai answered, showing no such reticence when it came to injuring and killing his opponent."O'Connell, what did you find here?"

"A shrine… a wall full of mixed up hieroglyphics."Rick yelled, letting off another couple of shots as they moved towards his wife.

"No," Ardeth argued, "not enough."He saw him look toward Evie and shake his head.Something in the way he did made him follow the direction of his gaze, she had pulled Tarek's knife from the sheath at his back and fighting side by side with the man.Tarek glanced her way, clearly not pleased.Rick snorted in wry amusement… that was Evie… always in trouble."What about the chamber beneath?Apart from the statue?"

"Apart from the statue?" Rick wasn't sure he'd heard Ardeth right as they finally got Tarek's side.

"Yes." the Medjai confirmed as the four of them formed up backs together to form a square.

"Armour… and a sword." Rick yelled as a small group of vicious looking men came at them.He fired a shot and dropped the lead one to the ground."Made of gold and obsidian why?"

Ardeth turned his head and fixed him with a horrified expression."Did you touch anything?"

"What?" They were forced to seek shelter as the ground at their feet erupted in gunfire, spraying them with sand that stung their eyes.

"Did you touch anything!" Ardeth repeated the question, shouting to be heard.

"Evie!"Jonathan's frantic cry stopped either Rick or Evie from answering Ardeth's."Rick!"He turned his head, as did the others to see Jonathan, struggling in the arms of two men; being dragged towards a waiting group of horses.His heart skipped as he saw the look that crossed Evie's face at seeing her brother so manhandled. 

"Jonathan!" she started to get up, trying to come out from their cover.

Rick grabbed her around the waist and pushed her back against Ardeth who almost automatically caught her arms."You can't help him if you get your head blown off!"

"He's my brother," she cried.

"We will get him back, Evelyn" Ardeth answered even as he opened his mouth to tell her the same thing.

But Ardeth did more than just that, releasing Evie into his arms he called, "Entaha!"Then to the three others he said, "Stay here!" and before Rick could stop him, he took off, dodging the gunfire toward his horse being led at speed by one of six other Medjai.Tarek and the other four gave covering fire

"Now why in the hell didn't I think of that?"

**

He'd never been happier to see pursuing Medjai streaming out of the camp after them.He let out a little laugh, which seemed to annoy Anck-Su-Namun as she turned a baleful stare his way.

"You think a handful of Medjai are any match for the power of Usert!" she snapped.He watched as she pulled something from the folds of the dress she wore.It was gold.It glinted in the sunlight and made and sound that somehow began to pull at the ache left in the wake of him fighting the intrusion he had felt at the shrine.

He started to feel nauseous, his stomach spinning and pulling his head in its wake.He began to lose awareness of who he was… where he was and the gold and stone against his chest… the necklace he so wished he had never taken burned at his skin in white hot rage.

**

From nowhere, out of a cloudless sky, hail fell to the desert sands that began to shift and boil, like liquid until even the Medjai's well trained horses refused to go on and reared up in fear.

Leaning forward to avoid being thrown, Ardeth tried to peer through the rising sand to watch the progress of the party that had kidnapped Jonathan.He couldn't let them take him.The grains of sand stung his eyes, but he refused to yield to the terrible reality that this time he might be beaten… might not be able to reach the stricken man through the sudden storm of hail and sand.

"Be steady, Maharna."He soothed the stallion, pulling the head around as soon as his forelegs touched down.He tried to get his horse to go forward, into the whirling sand, to take him through, but the animal refused and reared again.

"Anck-Su-Namun!" he called through the chaos."Harm one hair on his head and I swear you will pray for eternity to end to free you from torment!"

The ride back to the encampment was a slow and melancholy one.He had no idea how he would explain to Evelyn how and why he had failed.He didn't have to.She looked up from where she was tending to Rick's shoulder as the Medjai returned.

"She has him, doesn't she?" she said, quietly.Ardeth closed his eyes and sighed.He opened them again when he felt her hand on his arm."Ardeth?"

"She has him." he confirmed."I believe she has somehow taken control of the power of the sistrum that the man she travels with had and uses it for herself.Evelyn…I am sorry."

Evelyn shook her head."I have to get him back."

"Evie," Rick eased her down onto his lap.Ardeth looked away."We'll get him back.We'll regroup and go after them."

"I must ask you," he said so quietly that he could hardly hear his voice himself. "Do you still have the bell?"He turned his head and fixed Evelyn with a serious look.

"I still have it." She said.

"Whoa, whoa… bell?" Rick eased her off his lap and drew himself up to his feet.

"The seventh bell from the sistrum of Usert," he said."It was given to me by the Usertim woman you brought me to and I asked that Evelyn keep it."

Rick's face turned harder than he had ever seen it before as he looked between Evelyn and himself.As he spoke his voice rose, getting more and more irate."You're telling my you gave my wife an ancient artefact to keep a hold of.Something that has already gotten one woman killed and neither of you saw fit to actually _tell me about it!"_

"Rick, it…" Evie tried to calm her husband.

"No, Evelyn, not this time," he said angrily, taking her by the shoulders and leaning down right into her face."How many times in the last few days have I asked you…no _told you that we weren't getting involved this time and yet here you are keeping god-dammed secrets and…"_

Ardeth stopped him.He planted a tattooed hand firmly in the middle of his friend's chest and pushed him away, moving between his two friends."If the blame lies in any direction, O'Connell then it is mine.Take your anger out on me if you must, but I will not have you speaking with Evelyn in such a manner."

"_You won't have me…?" Rick pushed his hand away from his chest."Just who in the hell do you think you are?She's my __wife!"_

__

"Stop it, Rick!Ardeth… that's enough!"

"And you are both my close friends.I will not see you hurt each other because of something that I have done."He didn't flinch from saying what he needed to say."I remind you that it was you brought me to the Usertim woman against everything the Medjai have believed in many thousands of years.In doing so you have begun a chain of event that threatens not only my life, but also the continuing existence of the twelve tribes.Should the Medjai fall then there would be nothing to stand between the power that has been unleashed and the continuation of all that we know of life."

"Oh please," Rick walked away a few paces and turned around again, his mouth open to go on, but he interrupted.

"By my estimate Anton Ferrier has spent perhaps eighteen or nineteen years systematically hunting down seven women to take from them the bells they carried from the Sistrum of the Goddess Usert that was broken into nine parts in the time of Seti the first.It was broken to prevent an unspeakable evil from being born into the world.I don't think you understand…"

"No, I don't think _you understand." Rick poked his chest."You went behind my back and gave the woman I love something that could have put her life at risk."_

"Now just a minute!" Evelyn had kept quiet until that moment, but she pushed against Ardeth's chest to ease him away from Rick."Ardeth _asked me to carry it; he didn't just give it to me.I chose not to say anything to you because I knew you'd over react, just like you are now!"_

"Over react?" Rick protested."You're defending this guy!"

"O'Connell," Ardeth started.

"And you!" she rounded on him then."I asked you once not to fight with Rick any more…I have put up with you ordering me about as if I were one of your men; having your men treat me as though I were some kind of prisoner half the time and their bloody leader or something the next, but I _will not put up with the two of you fighting because of something I __chose to do."_

  
"Evie," Rick said sheepishly.

"Evelyn," Ardeth said in exactly the same manner at the same time.

"No!" she snapped."No more!My brother is out there somewhere in the hands of an evil, self centred, maniacal creature and all you two can do… two people I love very much and are supposed to be the best of friends… is fight about something that really is not an issue.My life… my decision and that's an end to it.I need you two together on this… I need to get Jonathan back."

**

She was so wrapped up in her newly acquired plaything she didn't notice him slipping further and further behind.It had gone far enough. He had taken enough abuse from the creature he had summoned as a tool… a tool to help him, not take over and control him.There was one more bell and only the girl could lead the way to that.

He would stop Anck-Su-Namun's plans once and for all.

If the Medjai were at the camp by the shrine, that meant the girl would be there too… he knew she was still alive…when the creature had tricked him, had passed on to him the effects of the drugs he had put in her food he had felt her… her life force…

**

"Are you sure you're all right?" Meirionnydd looked up as the woman, Evie, came over toward her with a cup.As she handed it to her she added, "You've been awfully quiet since you've got here."

"Yes I'm fine," she answered, "I'm just rather tired.I didn't sleep very well last night and I expect you know what it's like to ride with the Medjai." She was fishing outrageously, trying to work out just what the other woman's relationship was with Ardeth and the other Medjai.

"If you need to rest I'm sure I could find you somewhere to…"

"Oh no," she interrupted, "No I'm fine.Actually I rather think I need to take a walk to stretch out some of the kinks in my back and legs from riding for so long."

"Perhaps I should call someone to go with you.Just in case."The woman looked at her with wide concerned eyes and Meirionnydd couldn't help liking her.As soon as Evelyn had seen her in fact she had taken her under her wing… whisked her off to her own tent and found her something closer to her size to wear.Closer to her size turned out to be a Bedouin dress that accentuated all of her feminine curves and even with the veils did little to hide her beauty.Evie had even brushed her hair for her, and after days without, it was a luxury, not to mention relaxing.

"Evie really, it's all right.I'll be fine," she stood up and started looking around.Since going with Evie, she'd not seen Ardeth at all, but since Evelyn's husband – Rick, she thought she'd been told he was called – was also missing, she assumed they were together somewhere.

As she walked out along the top of one of the rolling dunes nearby the camp, having promised not to go too far, she started thinking.She smiled – she'd been granted a reprieve… a least for a little while.Evie's brother had been taken captive by Anton and his now not-so-tame creature, and while she was sorry for the man, and for the pain it caused to Evie, at least in meant that she would have a little longer to be near to Ardeth.

Was that selfish?She sighed, if it were selfish then there was nothing she could do.She could not more help the way she'd come to feel about that man than she could stop the sun shining down on the Sahara. Truth of it was… she didn't want to leave him.

**

"Meirionnydd is resting?" Ardeth saw Evelyn jump as he walked up to her from behind.

"What?On no, she's gone for a walk." She turned around to face him, but he frowned."She needed to stretch her legs."

"Which way did she go?" he asked urgently.

"Ardeth, she'll be all right.She promised not to go far." He saw her frown in confusion but could do little about that now.With her mind, by the time he got back she would have jumped to all the wrong conclusions… _or the right ones. _

"Which way did she go?" he repeated, more calmly but his heart was churning inside."How long has she been gone?"

"Out along to top of the dunes there," she pointed him in the right direction."And not long…perhaps fifteen minutes."

He nodded and set off quickly in the direction she had pointed out, taking the most direct, though not the easiest route and walking as quickly as he could.Meiri should not be out there alone.Before too long he spotted her, standing looking out into the open desert.He followed her gaze for a moment looking at miles and miles of empty sand.

Something winked off to his left, a flash of light that caught his attention.He narrowed his eyes and peered in that direction.For a time he saw nothing, until the flash came again, and this time watching he was able to identify just what it was… sunlight glinting off the barrel of a gun._ _

__

"Meiri, NO!" he cried out and she turned toward the sound of his urgent voice.He forced his legs to take him in a sprint along the top of the dune toward her.He reached her just as the shot sounded, wrapped his arms around her and used the momentum of his sudden charge to take her from her feet.Cradling her close to his body, covering her head with his veil to keep the sand from her eyes, he let gravity take them and they began to roll to the bottom of the dune, safely out of harms way and beyond the sight of the sniper.

Breathing hard they came to a halt.She was pinned beneath him against the sand, and she was trembling.Slowly he lifted his head from beside hers and pulled the veil away from her eyes.He shook it to dislodge the sand and then carefully wiped what sand there was on her face away from her eyes.

"Ardeth, I'm sorry," she whispered.She sounded terrified and it twisted him all up inside to hear it.

"It's all right." He said his voice barely above a murmur.

"I should have listened to Evie.I shouldn't have come out here alone."The tremor in her voice, as though she was on the edge of tears was his undoing.He moved his hand once more over her cheek, his fingertips this time with no sand to dislodge… just the softness of her skin under his fingers.She looked up at him, right into his eyes, pinning him with the awareness of her… under him… pressed against him… Days of repressed emotions came crowding in on him and slowly he lowered his lips to cover hers.

**

Sensation exploded through the whole of her being at the first warm, soft brush of his lips.The light press of his beard enlivened the skin around her lips, making her more and more aware of the insistent but sweet press of his kiss.She gasped and the press became a caress as he captured her mouth with his, and brushed against her lower lip, tracing its shape with his tongue.

His arm slipped back under her head, pushing his fingers into her hair as she granted his seeking tongue entry into the warm haven of her mouth.She grasped the front of his robes as he mapped the hills and vales of her teeth and toyed with her tongue, enlivening her with the taste of him… spicy and warm as she shared his breath.

She moaned softly as a million feelings gathered within her, drawing her deeper into the need she felt to be one with him… sharing everything.

Suddenly he pulled back, breaking the kiss.For a second he was still… his body tense, and then he turned his head to the side and breathed out a long slow sigh.

"Meiri, forgive me," he breathed on the end of the sigh, and shaking his head, slid his body from hers, moving carefully to his knees, his back to her.

"Ardeth…" she sat up and put her hand on his shoulder.Still feeling the tingling on her lips where his kiss had been, the ache deep inside he had kindled.

His hand covered hers for a moment, but he voiced his denial of her unspoken request."No," he said."I am sorry, I…"

He stood and turned to help her to her feet, but would not meet her eyes.

"It was…"

"It was wrong of me." He looked at her then, and his expression was one of almost self loathing, coupled with a deep regret."I am sorry.I must return you to the others."

By the time they got back to the camp, walking side by side and with the space of an unseen person between them, she couldn't see for the tears in her eyes.

**

There were no excused for that he had done.He burned inside with the shame he felt at the loss of his control… and yet, he had acted only out of a pure feeling.A feeling that had been growing and growing inside in until it consumed almost everything that he was.He could continue to pretend it wasn't true – to save her the heartache of the endless wait for news after a battle – but he could no longer deny it to himself.

He wanted her by his side.He needed her to be with him to make him whole in a way he had never felt before.He felt it when he had kissed her – that his whole world had come together and made sense at last.He knew who he was, and what it meant – he understood all that he had seen thought his thirty three years of life.Nothing mattered except the moment and that he finally accepted that he was in love with her.

But that was the problem.Nothing mattered…not the danger he faced – not the threat to the twelve tribes, and that was why he had to pull away now… why it could not be… but if by some miracle the Elders were wrong and they all survived the coming apocalypse, what then?Could he dare to allow himself the hope that one day he might know that completion and never have it taken from him?

No.

He sighed.It was a beautiful dream… a security against the growing unease and stirrings of fear inside his heart, but it would never be.

He could feel her pain as they walked back together and knew that if he turned to her there would be tears in her eyes.He couldn't stand to see that so he kept his eyes firmly fixed toward the centre of the camp.

Up ahead he could see a man struggling, held between two Medjai.The O'Connells and Rashid close by.So this was the sniper…Anger rushed in to push aside his melancholy.Whatever could or could not be between he and Meiri he had still sworn to protect her and this man had tried to take her life.It would be the last mistake he would ever make.

"Who is he?" he demanded harshly in Arabic as soon as he reached Rashid's side.He noticed that Meiri moved closer to his oldest friend as they came near.She whispered something almost in fear, but he did not hear.He was about to turn and ask her what she had said when the struggling man stopped and said with a tremor in the badly accented Arabic he spoke.

"My name is Ferrier.Anton Ferrier.The girl…"Ardeth cut him off with a huge backhand slap that knocked his head back against the shoulder of one of the Medjai holding him.

"You will not speak of a Lady under the protection of the Medjai," he warned.

"Hey, guys?" O'Connell piped up."In English would be good!"

Ardeth ignored him.In spite of the mark he wore, in spite of their friendship this was none of O'Connell's concern."In fact you will not speak at all unless to answer my questions."

"Oh you have it bad!" the man did not heed the warning, but switched to English and at his words anger flashed in Ardeth's eyes, a white hot stream that flowed up from the very depth of his being."Did you savour her then?Or perhaps he got there first!" He nodded his head toward Rashid.

Out of the corner of his eyes he saw Rashid start forward and raised his hand to halt his friend.He saw Meiri also raise her hand to place it gently onto Rashid's arm.She shook her head.

"On your knees, infidel!" Ardeth snarled, and his scimitar turned full circle out of its sheath in his hand.To try and kill her was bad enough but to insult her virtue also… thousands of years of tradition rose in him and he responded like the true unyielding Medjai warrior that he was.When the man did not obey he nodded to the two men holding him who began to force him to the sand.

"Whoa, now hang on a second there…" O'Connell started.

"O'Connell, do not interfere."

"Ardeth, please…" Meirionnydd's soft plea almost stopped him, but honour demanded recompense.

"Turn away, Meirionnydd." He had to force the words past the constriction in his throat.

"No," she moaned and laid a soft touch against his forearm, "Ardeth…"

"Rashid!"He waited while Rashid drew Meiri away and held her against the folds of his robe to hide her eyes from something he did not wish for her to see.Approaching the kneeling man he murmured, "May Allah have mercy on your miserable soul."

"The hell with All…!" Anton's head came off his shoulders with a sickening dull thud.

As O'Connell looked on in shock, holding his wife's head against his shoulder, mirroring the way Rashid held Meiri, and his warriors set about cleaning up the mess, he turned to Rashid.As soon as his friend released Meiri she flew at him, tears streaming from her eyes.Her hand connected with his cheek, an unexpected and stinging slap.

"You bastard!" she wailed.He caught her wrists and tried to pull her in closer so that she could not harm anyone."Doesn't mercy mean anything to you?"

"My apologies, Meiri – you do not understand…"

"Oh I understand perfectly, _First Medjai!" she might as well have slapped him again.He let go of her wrists as though her flesh had scalded him.To hear her call him by the title that he so hated, and in such an ugly tone tore out his heart and cast it to the sand at his feet.When she turned and fled, sobbing in the next moment, his soul followed.He took a step forward to go after her, but felt Rashid's hand in the centre of his chest.Rashid fixed him with a meaningful and warning stare for a moment before he turned and walked after Meirionnydd._

"Ardeth?" He felt a large but gentle hand come down onto his shoulder and turned to see O'Connell looking at him in concern."Are you all right?What was all that about?"

He sighed heavily. "Conflict, O'Connell," he said, "of honour and understanding.I need this to be over, my friend."

"We all do," O'Connell agreed."We'll rest up – go get Jonathan and get the hell out of here."

"I wish it were that simple," he said."We will bring Jonathan back, but it will not end there, at least not for the Medjai.It cannot end until the threat is ended and that will not happen until Anck-Su-Namun is defeated.For that… I will need your help, Evelyn's help… in translating the words written on the inside of the shrine."

**

"That was quite a display," Meiri sniffed and tried to wipe away the angry tears still stinging her eyes as Rashid took her gently by the shoulders to turn her round.He sighed and moved her hands from her face to finish doing so himself.His tenderness touched her and she almost started crying again.

"Rashid, don't," she said.

"Meiri, you have become as a sister to me."He fixed her with a patient and gentle expression. "And what I have to say to you now is guided by a brother's concern.Do you understand?"

"What did I do wrong now?" she asked petulantly, trying to push his hands from her shoulders, but he held her firmly.

"Was that not you that struck the First Medjai?That openly questioned his judgement and disobeyed his command?" he asked incredulously.

"I asked him not to kill that man!" she said, tears filling her eyes again.

"And he heard your request and decided – in my opinion rightly – that death was the least the man deserved."

His words stung still further and she pushed at him hard enough to free herself. "You are as bad as he is!"She moved to turn and walk away but he caught her arm and pulled her back to face him, shaking her slightly into the bargain.

"What you did back there in other circumstances would have earned you a beating, or worse.If you were in the Medjai settlement…"

"Yes well that's the point isn't it?"She snatched her arm out of his hand."I'm _not in the Medjai settlement and never likely to be.And you both seem to be forgetting that – conveniently – when it matters to you."_

"Is that truly what you believe?" She saw him frown.

"Well I mean, what right or even reason does he have to take another man's life… to kill a man like that in cold blood?" She pointed angrily back in the direction of the centre of the camp.

Rashid folded his arms across his chest and regarded her seriously for more time than she could stand.She threw up her arms and started to turn away again with a growl of frustration.He caught her, once again preventing her from turning her back on him.

"The man systematically hunted down and murdered seven women in the desert – where the Medjai are the embodiment of the law.In spite of many warnings he has desecrated many tombs and shrines under our protection.He kept you against your will and forced you to take substances that could have killed you.He sent men after you to drag you back to him who, but for your intervention, would have taken the life of the most important man among all the twelve tribes." Meirionnydd shuddered to hear the catalogue of his crimes listed so coldly.Her face became somewhat more contrite, but Rashid showed as much mercy to her as had Ardeth to the man himself."When he could not drag you back to him he made a serious and almost successful attempt to take your life – a life under the direct protection of the First Medjai himself, not to mention the life of the woman he loves – and to further compound his crimes he then insulted your virtue and Ardeth's honour.There was absolutely nothing cold blooded about the execution, Meirionnydd.In spite of rumour to the contrary that is not the way of the Medjai."

"Rashid…ow!" Emotion burst from her, and the press of his fingers against her arm was starting to hurt."He confuses me so much.All but telling me we can't be more than we are… then he kissed me and now he's acting as if…"

"He what!" Rashid's face turned blacker than the sky over Snowdon before a storm."When?"

She prized at his fingers where they still gripped her arm."At the bottom of the dune… just after he saved me…"Suddenly he let her go, turned and in three steps had gone far enough back to Ardeth that she had to run to catch up to him.She grabbed the sleeve of his robe to pull him to a halt."Rashid, don't!What is the matter with you?"

"He should _not have…"_

"I know!" Meiri almost yelled at him in frustration, upset, hurt and anger all rolled into one."Dear _God you are as bad as he is."_

Rashid turned and taking her by the shoulders shook her slightly."No, Meiri…I am the _same as he is… both of us are Medjai and we have standards of behaviour.He should not…!"_

"_He KNOWS!" she raised her voice and implored him to listen to her."Believe me Rashid, he knows and his suddenly backing off and hiding behind Medjai mores and duty has hurt me more than __anything he could have done…I understand that you have rules… ways you should behave, but…" her voice dropped to a whisper."But I love him and I just don't know what to __do.Please don't make it worse."_

She gripped his arms, her fingers over the bracers on his wrists as he still held her by the shoulders, and felt everything in her shaking and waiting for his answer.Eventually she saw him sigh, and a softer expression came over his face.

"For your sake, I will say nothing this time," he said."But I will not stand by and watch him hurt you, Meiri.If he does not resolve this soon – then I will!"

**

"And then I think it goes over here to talk about the setting of the sun."Evie turned her head to glance at Ardeth and Rick behind her."And the night that follows being cold…"

"The exact words, please." She turned at the tired note in Ardeth's voice in time to see him running his fingers over his forehead as though his head ached.

"Ardeth, are you all right?" she asked, coming away from the walls in concern.

"The translation, please, Evelyn.It is important." Ardeth answered, shaking his head at her concern and holding up a hand.Evelyn's blood chilled when she saw the almost imperceptible tremor in the usually steady hand.

"Erm… yes, right."She turned back to the wall, pretending that she had not seen.She somehow felt that he would be embarrassed if Ardeth knew she had seen his – what…?Worry?Or worse, fear?She swallowed hard."_Power shall rise and he will become and bring his power.The risen sun shall fall into night.Without the first bright sun, cold night will be all, the weak shall perish and the strong become as his right hand."_

She turned back to Ardeth and saw him studying the wall beside her hand.She tried to read his expression.Difficult with him anyway, but over the years of their friendship she had come to know some of his faces.This was one she had never seen before.She thought she saw sadness, resignation and disbelief all mixed…

"What is it?" she asked him.

"This symbol here," he pointed to the hieroglyph for 'man' oddly out of place in her mind because she had never been able to find to which part of the text it pertained."Does it not mean that all of this refers to a man?And why the cartouche around 'first bright sun'?"This time the tone his voice left her in no doubt as to his fear.

"Ardeth I don't know why?To me, it seems out of place – that's the trouble with this damned thing, it doesn't make sense and it's so religious that even _my knowledge isn't enough sometimes.What's going on?"She held up her hand to stop him from interrupting."Rick and I have known you for almost ten years now and I've never once seen you like this."_

"Because I have never once faced anything like this," he answered quietly, looking at the ground."What you have told me here today echoes exactly the words spoken to me by the Elders of the Medjai…"

"And what is that?" she asked, almost afraid to hear the answer, but Ardeth just shook his head, his face fixed firmly on the wall before him.

"Do what you can to make sense of the writings, please.It may be the key to stopping the evil that is rising now…And promise me, Evelyn… just two things…"

"If I can," she answered, and met his gaze when he turned his eyes to her.

"If anything happens to me… promise me that you will ensure Meirionnydd's safety and that you will take your family and leave the Sahara and never come back."

**

A man cut the ropes holding his hands to the saddle horn and Jonathan all but fell down from the horse.As he found his legs Anck-Su-Namun returned to his side.He could feel the satisfaction and power oozing off her like some malodorous scent.

"You should let me go you know?" he said as firmly as he could.She laughed in his face.

"Oh Jonathan, you just don't get it do you?" She took him by the shoulders and turned him around to face the huge edifice he had not seen before, slumped over the saddle as he had been.It simply took his breath away.

In the sands around them, pillars, not unlike those that had been standing in Hamunaptra when he had first set eyes on that, lay strewn and broken, but closer to a huge rock structure the pillars were standing, skyward reaching sentinels, a reminder of the enduring nature of time next to the partly rusted digging equipment that had been used to uncover them.Behind those pillars, the sandstone rock had been cut away to reveal the gilded doorway to what was clearly a temple of some kind… teams of archaeologists, suspended by ropes from above, worked to scrape away more of the front of the statues of some of the oldest Gods known.

"Oh… my… God!" he breathed.

"Now you understand," Anck-Su-Namun took his arm, his awe of the temple made him forget that he was supposed to be resisting her."Welcome to the Gods own Temple… I'd give you the tour, but I have a feeling that once we've been inside for a while, you'll feel quite at home."

The sudden reminder of the threat to his person had Jonathan pull his arm from her grasp.He stopped walking and started looking around him for somewhere to run. Her two bodyguards stepped forward with their guns pointing at his chest."They'll follow you know… they'll come for me."

"Oh yes, I know," Anck-Su-Namun smiled a viper smile."I'm counting on it."She came behind him and in one sudden move grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled it back sharply.Buttons popped and he struggled as she all but tore his shirt off his back."And you, dear Jonathan, are going to help me to make it a certainty."

She pulled a small knife from her belt and approached him with the blade and started to run the tip of it across his chest, teasing, not pressing hard enough to cut.

"Madam!"Jonathan squeaked as the newcomer arrived and Anck-Su-Namun turned so quickly that she almost nicked his flesh with the knife."Anton…"

"Is missing," she finished as if unconcerned."I know, but no matter.If he is in the way then he too will fall."

"In the way?" Jonathan couldn't help asking."What do you mean, in the way?"

She returned to his side then and quite deliberately nicked his skin deeply enough to draw blood, which she took up on the blade and smeared onto the necklace he wore.

"You see," she purred, coming to stand behind him."I need the girl… and I need rid of those pesky Medjai warriors and you, dear Jonathan, are going to help me with that."

He suddenly felt sick, fear and worry for himself and for his friends.He tried to cover his new felt fears as strongly as he could.Trying to laugh he said, "You have got to be joking you…"

"_Har-ya Suti… Har-ya Suti… Har-ya Suti!" Anck-Su-Namun's resonant voice and the suddenly discordant jangle of the sistrum that she shook in a circle around him interrupted his defiance.For a moment nothing appeared to happen, but then the pain blossomed in from the top of his head, as though he had been struck by a blot of lightning.It rushed through him from the crown of his head to the soles of his feet and stole the strength from his legs.He fell to his hands and knees on the sand, retching with the sudden ache he felt through his entire body._

_"Bring me three of the finest men here!" The voice, deep and cruel – and speaking, he noted, fluently in Ancient Egyptian – burst from his lips as though it had crawled from the depths of time itself._

Jonathan fought for control of his own body… his own mind."Rick… hurry!" he whined."Ardeth!"Muscles cramped and strained as he tried to stay on the ground, but rose to his feet to take the small knife from Anck-Su-Namun's hand.At the same time he grasped her around the waist.She gasped and he felt the smile force its way onto his face.

"Welcome, my Lord Su…" Everything inside Jonathan shuddered in revulsion as his mouth came down hard on hers cutting off what she had been trying to say.His tongue plundered her mouth, drinking from her as though he were parched, until sounds behind him alerted him that his commands had been obeyed.

Jonathan had never been so relieved in his life when the kiss ended suddenly.He felt violated, helpless in the face of the _thing that was crawling inside him…__I'm Jonathan Carnahan… he fought to find a way back.__Jonathan Carnahan… my sister is Evie… my brother-in-law is Rick.Jonathan Carnahan_

His hand holding the knife came back…_No!Plunged forward again into the throat of the first of the men… spilling blood to the sand.__Jonathan… Carnahan…Again and again the creature within him acted… __No!I'm Jonathan…_

"Carnahan!" His screams broke the eerie silence that had fallen over the dig site."Jonathan Carnahan!"He fell… returning to his hands and knees on the blood soaked ground, that started bubbling and boiling around him, forming man-like shapes in the sand.


	11. visions, Memory and Loss

Power Is

Chapter 11 

He couldn't remember when he had felt so miserable and so tired both at the same time.He leaned back against his saddlebag, watching the activity around him slow as everyone settled for the night.With a sigh he closed his eyes.The one person he was looking for was not to be seen.He hadn't seen her since she had slapped his face and run off in tears.

He should have gone after her.He should have done a lot of things… and a lot of other things he should not.

He ran his hands over his face and opened his eyes, beginning to stare into the small fire that had been built against the chill of the desert night…

_Impassive…He stood with his back to the door of the chamber wherein the soon-to-be crowned Rameses soothed his grief with the pleasures of a woman's body.There was no need for him to ask who graced his bed.One look at the not-so-impassive face of his companion – Ma'nakhtuf revealed her identity all too well.He had tried to relieve the man, but he would not leave his post._

__

_"Sekhemkare," At the sound of the voice, he turned toward the speaker to watch her coming from a corridor at the side.She was undeniably beautiful, blunt cut hair framing a well structured face.Her eyes outlined carefully, as always and a blush of gold on her eyes and cheeks.Her right wrist bore the tooled leather bracer with inset gold hieroglyphs that told a part of the Prophesy of Usert… each of the seven Usertim Priestesses wore one, but as their high priestess hers was partly hidden by the short feathered cloak she wore over the crisp white drape that barely covered her shapely form.But her beauty did nothing to soften the way he felt… the contempt and loathing for a woman that had so openly supported the treacherous Anck-Su-Namun… had given the woman ideas that she were better than just to be concubine to the late Pharaoh.Her voice grated as she purred her question."May we speak?"_

__

_"Not with your women, Isetnophret?" He mocked her."Or are they too busy mourning that traitorous witch!"_

__

_"Please, First Medjai," she sighed and his eyes narrowed in suspicion.He knew their ways all too well.She used his title as proof of her respect for him… proof nothing – he knew otherwise.Asru, the only woman he had ever loved – and Usertim herself – had told him she held him in the highest contempt.Impotent leader of a powerless sect that had forgotten their true worth… that was what she had called him. "It is because of Anck-Su-Namun that I am here and here alone.We must speak."_

__

_He folded his arms over his chest."Then speak.I have ears."_

__

_"Alone."_

__

_"No." He snapped, and breathed in deeply, no man in his right mind should ever be alone with such a woman as Isetnophret."Anything you have to say can be said before Ma'nakhtuf." He nodded to the Medjai warrior standing with him._

__

_"There is no TIME for this posturing, Sekhemkare!" He took an angry step forward but she stood her ground._

__

_"Posturing?" He echoed her words in disbelief and but for his honour would have raised a hand to her, but striking any woman was the sign of a coward and a bully, and he was neither."Pharaoh lies dead at the hand of his traitorous mistress and you accuse us of posturing?"_

__

_"Listen to me." She placed a hand on his arm, but he shook off the contact as if it dirtied him somehow."We need your help."_

__

_He laughed.It was a humourless, bitter laugh.The Usertim needed the Medjai, yes… to father their children and provide them with daughters."You have never needed out help, Usertim.We have only ever been of use to you for one reason, and one reason alo…"_

__

_She shook her head and something in her sad expression stopped him and turned his white hot anger into a chill as she said mournfully, "You are needed now… never more so than now."_

__

_"Speak woman, and say what you have to say quickly." He would not let her see that his anger was calmed, that he had sensed that what she had to say was important._

__

_"Imhotep." She said._

__

_"What of him?"_

__

_"He rides toward the City of the Dead even now, to attempt to return his lover to life."Another flush of cold went through him._

__

_"Lover?" For a moment he did not understand why she should come to him with such a story… was it religious jealousy? That he had been always at Seti's side and had his ear?What…?_

__

_"Oh come, now, Sekhem," he forgave her shortening his name, fighting to fit all of the pieces of the badly broken puzzle into place."You surely have seen… you were always there when they were together and it is your job to see such…"_

__

_"Anck-Su-Namun," he breathed the name as a curse."He was her accomplice…"_

__

_"Yes," she answered, and jumped when he suddenly grasped her wrist bearing the bracer._

__

_"And you encouraged her, thinking to bring about your prophesy?" Suddenly he saw further into the matter than he was sure she wanted him to._

__

_"We encourage her belief in herself, nothing more.We mistook the touch of the High Priest of Osiris for divinity around her.We were wrong, First Medjai…"_

**

Rick looked up as Evie came to his side and lifted up his arm for her to snuggle beneath.She did just that and he loved the feeling of her warm breath against his neck.He reached down to the cup that was resting nearby and handed it to her.

"How you doing?" he asked.

"I should be the one asking _you that." she gently ran her hand over his injured shoulder."How is it?"_

"Evie, the bullet just grazed it… yeah it hurts like hell, but I'm okay."He turned his head and kissed her brow.He felt her sigh.

"I'm so worried, Rick," she said at last.

"He'll be okay, Evie.Jonathan's stronger than a lot of people think… and first thing in the morning, soon as Ardeth's people get back, we'll go get him.I promised."He squeezed her tighter and she laid her head on his shoulder.

"Jonathan will be fine… I know that." She murmured."It's Ardeth I worry about."

"Ardeth?" Rick leaned back to look at her face.He couldn't believe she was serious.

"You didn't see him," she said, "In the shrine – looking at the text and when I read it. He was shaking."

Rick turned his head again to gaze across the clearing, through the fire at where his friend rested.His head was tilted back slightly, as though he were looking heavenward.His eyes were closed and his breathing, though perhaps a little fast for someone sleeping, was regular enough.

"No…" he turned back to his wife."I think he was just tired, Evie.We don't know what he's been through before we got here and he…" he stopped as she was shaking her head.

"He's afraid, Rick… of something… I don't know what – and not just for himself."He followed the direction of her gaze toward the nearby tent where he knew."He asked me to promise that if anything happened to him, we'd leave Egypt and never come back."

"He said that?"He tried to look in three directions at once, the tent, his wife and Ardeth.

"I tried to get him to tell me what was wrong, but you know what he's like… tight lipped as ever when it comes to either him or the Medjai… and as far as I can tell, he's worrying about both of those topics."She sighed."Something the Elders told him when he went home for a visit."

Rick finally decided to look at Evie and saw the worry in her eyes."I'll go talk to him in a little while," he told her reassuringly.She nodded and snuggled closer for a second.

"He also asked me to make sure that Meirionnydd is safe too, He took the cup from Evie's hand and raised it to his lips."Rick, I think he's in love."Tea sprayed not only from his mouth in surprise, but also his nose.He was sure it was coming out of his ears too because he thought he'd heard her say that Ardeth was in love.He looked to her, wiping the droplets of tea from his mouth with his hand and raised his eyebrows, shaking his head.

"Why else would he care so much about what happened to her?" she asked with a gleam in her eyes that he knew very well.It was the one she always got when she was about to cause mischief.

"Evie…" he warned."If he is… and you know that's a pretty big 'if' then we need to stay out of it.You are not going to play cupid, you hear me?"

"Never even thought about it." Evelyn assured him quietly.

**

She turned over again, trying so hard to get comfortable, but every way she turned, she thought of him.She turned onto her side, and the skins under her touched her cheek, soft as when he had brushed away the sand from her face.She turned the other way and she could smell his unique scent, that combination of Sandalwood, desert rose and the bite of something like cinnamon.She breathed in and she could almost feel him there with her… his body pressing down on hers, sheltering her from danger, keeping from her the threat of…

_Breathless… she was breathless with longing, with a need that was so physical it almost turned her inside out.The warmth of skin against hers and deep brown eyes – shining bright with tears – looked down on her from above… a sweet sharp pain._

She sat up suddenly.Throwing off the blanket she welcomed the sudden chill.It helped to keep the doors in her mind closed and stopped her from seeing thing that weren't really there.Tears spilled from her eyes.She caught her sob in her hand.How could she stop him from sending her home with the O'Connells?She wanted so much to stay.

_This is your home, why should you leave…?_

The voice sounded close behind her and she leaped forward and turned round, expecting to see someone there.The space was empty.Slowly she reached out and felt for the blanket, which she wrapped around her shoulders, never once taking her eyes off the empty space in front of her, not trusting her eyes.

"Wales is my home," she whispered, bringing to mind the green hills and the towering brown and white mountains that she'd known for all the nineteen years of her life, with the cold and the damp that seeped into her bones and made her long for the warmth of a fire… the warm soft arms of a mother to soothe away the nightmares that had plagued her since puberty.

_It's in your blood… the gift belongs to all of Her Ladies._

"I'm just a girl…Nobody _owns_ me!" She was vaguely conscious of the fact that she might be talking to herself, that the stress of everything in the last few days might finally have got to her and pushed her over the edge.

_This is your home… you were born here… the sight is in your blood as in all of your kind.Why fight the truth?_

"I'm not!" she whined.She was getting scared, she wanted to leave the tent; to run out and find Ardeth, or Rashid and _make them stay with her, keep the voice away… but found she couldn't move.She could barely even breathe._

_He took you from your mother the day you were born – out of __Egypt__ until he was ready to bring you home… to be here for Her again._

"Who are you?" she whispered in fear.

_The shadow in the minds of righteous men… unnameable fear to some and to others… Her consorts High Priest…_

__

Flashes of images began to pass so quickly through her mind that she couldn't catch a single one.She reeled and lurched from one emotional punch to the next until she fell back against the cold and draughty floor of the tent, breathless and sobbing.She had to get out, had to be with others… needed to find Ardeth.

**

"Evie?" she looked up as Rick brought out the blanket and settled it around her shoulders."Why didn't you tell me that Ardeth gave you that thing to carry?"

"Rick, I'm sorry," she felt so bad about keeping it from him.She hadn't meant to, just that so many other things had happened and were happening that it slipped her mind.She wanted to make it up to him and for a moment thought… but no.Things were hard enough as it was.If he knew then _he would probably send her back to Cairo with a dozen Medjai at her back, let alone Ardeth._

"I know you are honey," he said gently, rubbing her back through the blanket."But that wasn't what I asked.I thought we could tell each other anything."

"We can," she sighed, felt even more awful and added, "but sometimes you _do over react.And really it wasn't like that at all…"_

"I only over react because I love you, Evie, because once I held you in my arms as you died, and I can't go through that again." He drew her against him, and she tucked the blanket around him too, sharing warmth with him as he shared hers.

"I know.I love you too," she told him."And I really am sorry."

"Just no more secrets, huh?" He laid he head on the top of hers and caressed her hand against his leg.She gripped his knee, her heart heavy, but glad of his support.

"No more secrets," she whispered.

**

_She was so beautiful, her flawless soft skin, her short blunt cut hair that bobbed around her neck when she tossed her head, as she often did in their love play, and the way her eyes sparkled warmly when they met his…_

__

_He sat in the shuttered window space looking back on Asru, his lover, as she slept in his bed.He still felt the warmth of her body against his even though he'd been sitting in the window for what seemed an eternity.How could he give up this perfection – and how could he not hate the woman responsible for that choice?_

__

_Isetnophret, what have you done to me…?What have you done to __Egypt__?_

__

_He ran his tattooed hands through his long dark hair, and over his clean shaven face, trying desperately to stop the tears he felt rising in his eyes.It would break her heart.It had already broken his._

__

_"Kem?"Soft hands came down on his naked shoulders, and her voice caressed him as her hands travelled up to take his hands from his face."What is it?What's wrong?"_

__

_He drew her down into his lap and wrapped her tightly in his arms.He couldn't contain the sob."I love you Asru."_

__

_"Oh, my sweet love…" she raised his face and softly pulled his full, lower lip into her mouth as she kissed him gently… kissing away his tears as she had the first time they made love and had done every time since.She alone knew of the sensitive man that led Pharaoh's sacred bodyguards.She alone knew the truth of him and now he was cutting off that lifeline… when morning came."Come back to bed, my heart."_

__

_It was a cruel morning that dawned._

__

_The courtyard teemed with the Medjai, resplendent in their pleated kilts and covered hair and fully oiled, tattooed bodies and to the side, looking puzzled and alarmed that they should be, as they were, under guard the seven Priestesses of Usert and their servants and daughters.Members of the nobility crowded in to hear what proclamation would be made… news had been called since dawn that something was to be proclaimed._

__

_As one, all knelt as Rameses walked through the midst of the courtyard, holding lightly to Nefertiri's hand, surrounded by twelve of the most capable of his Medjai, and at their head, Sekhemkare walked, a stone in the place where his heart had beaten.He forced himself not to look at the space where he knew his love was standing… even though he could feel her eyes on his face.He saw Pharaoh-in-waiting to his throne and then turned to face the assembled masses._

__

_"Speak, my First Medjai." Rameses voice penetrated the sudden stillness._

__

_Sekhemkare closed his eyes and sighed, when he opened them again, his resolve was set in the stone that surrounded his heart."I speak today with Pharaoh's voice and his blessing… A great wrong has been done to you, oh Egypt, and though punishment has been swift on those whose hearts were set in Evil against our Pharaoh's father, those whose crime – to bend the will of the gods to suit their own ambition – may have been at the heart of what planted that seed of evil in Anck-Su-Namun's mind, have not._

__

_"In seeing that woman as the living embodiment of Usert, Isetnophret, you have murdered a nation and I cannot be certain that you and your kind will not attempt to do so again, in spite of your assurances otherwise, and even knowing that you have broken the Sistrum of Usert.It is not enough… and so with…" he faltered, cleared his throat and began again."So with all power that is mine as First Medjai – as Sekhmet to Ra, so are we to Pharaoh – I make this decree and seal it before the Gods in my blood."_

__

_He drew a dagger from his belt and ran it, swift and deep across the palm of his hand, letting the red of his life blood fall to the hardened sand at Pharaoh's feet."From this day forth, no man among the Medjai may place hand or even eye upon a woman of the Usertim.I forbid it.Pharaoh forbids it and the Gods themselves… By my life blood I swear that any Medjai breaking this interdiction will bring upon himself and his fellows the curse of ill luck in battle as in life, that his line will not survive.Know that this decision was not reached lightly… nor will there be mercy and nor will it be revoked until such time as the harm to our people brought by this act is undone."He weakened then, and looked across to Asru… she was supported by the Usertim on each side of her as though she hadn't the strength to stand.He swallowed hard, allowing the morning sun to blind the sight from his eyes._

__

_"Isetnophret…You have until the day is ended to get your women from __Thebes__." He closed his hand again, to squeeze a few more drops of blood from his injured hand."May your Goddess grant you mercy."_

__

_It never healed… _

__

_For months the gash across his hand would not heal… an outward sign of the pain that still beset his heart.Battle became his friend, the more dangerous, the better and he spend as much time with the surgeon as he did on the battlefield or at Rameses side… in the end though, it was the old wound…_

__

_"No, no, no!" he rocked his head from side to side.Were the sons of the Medjai getting stupid?"I have told you a hundred times if I have said this to you once.Keep up your guard or your opponent will strike high!"He slapped the young man with the flat of his blade on his chest, then readjusted his guard and struck the sword with his own, without any force."Again!"_

__

_The obedient pupil leaped to the attack, swords blurred in the afternoon sun.An awkward parry brought a sharp pain to the palm of his left hand.He growled to push away the increase in the ever present pain, ignoring the way the handle of the sword became slick in his hand._

__

_"Now!" he commanded._

__

_Oblivious to the difficulties he was starting to have, the boy came forward in the routine he was teaching that day.He let his blades come high, checking the boy's guard.He smiled inwardly, he was good.He would make a fine Medjai when his training was done._

__

_"So… defeat me boy!" he growled as they locked together and tossed each other back.Realising the honour and the challenge the boy came on, youth and speed were against Sekhemkare and he soon had to think ahead, to read the boys mind to parry the strikes in time._

__

_His blade slipped in his injured hand and hadn't the strength to turn the blow aside or stop the deadly sharp blade – they prided themselves on never practising with blunted weapons… they were Medjai – from penetrating deep into his lung.He clutched at the boys arms for support, but in horror at what he had done, the boy backed away._

__

_"First Medjai!"Frantic cries that sounded a million miles away… he could hear them… and then a cool hand.He opened his eyes._

__

_"Nefertiri?"_

__

_"Don't speak, Sekhem." She ripped off one of her veils and pressed it to his wound._

__

_"The boy…"He saw her turn to the horrified boy and beckoned him closer.Trembling, the boy knelt at his side.Sekhemkare reached up and pulled the necklace he wore from his neck, barely having the strength to break the chord.He handed it to the boy."Your name, boy?"_

__

_"Wennefer, First Medjai."_

__

_"Be swift of thought, and deed, strong of heart and true to the vows you will speak as a warrior.Wennefer – I recognise you as a man, and as a Medjai warrior.May the Gods bless you and keep you safe, my brother."He could barely whisper the words, and on the end of them tightened his jaw against the wave of pain that swept him from consciousness._

__

_Cold…_

__

_It was the cold that woke him.He tried to get up, but warm hands pressed him back to the bed on which he lay.The face that swam slowly into focus was that of Nefertiri._

__

_"Sekhemkare," she had been weeping, it confused him and he reached up to try and touch her face.His hand didn't make it.She caught it though, between her own and pressed it to her cheek."Pharaoh is worried about you.He sent me to sit with you."_

__

_"Why the tears, Nefertiri?You knew this day would come."He knew without a shadow of doubt that he was going to die.He welcomed it._

__

_"You cannot leave us, Sekhem.Not now… Pharaoh needs you."_

__

_"He has other Medjai…" he ran out of breath and it was a huge effort to take another._

__

_"Then for the sake of your son,"_

__

_"Son?"_

__

_"Asru sent him to you… he is a beautiful boy…" She gestured to another woman nursing a child in the corner of the room."But he needs his father and he needs a name."_

__

_The woman came closer and he turned his head to look at the boy.So like his mother that fresh pain stabbed through his heart… he could not go on… but this child would be life after the terrible darkness that had been his last few months._

__

_"Call him… Ankhefenamun," he said and fell back against the pillows.Nefertiri nodded and with the wave of her hand dismissed the woman.He opened his eyes and faintly saw a single star shining through the opened window.He fought for the breath to continue, "And… what is the name of that star?_

__

_"What star?"She turned to try and see what he was looking at, but her angle was all wrong and she saw nothing._

__

_"Take me to the window… let me show you…"Sekhemkare struggled to sit up himself when she made a face to argue, then she slipped her arms around his shoulders and using all the strength she had, helped him into the space beside the window.He watched her as her eyes searched the heavens for the star he might have meant.He thought then that he saw exactly what Ma'nakhtuf, who had died in a recent battle, had seen in her and said quietly, "He loved you more than life, Nefertiri, you know that don't you?"_

__

_She looked at him with tearful eyes… had she cared for his friend as she now did for him?_

__

_"I would have given him a child… a son," she confessed._

__

_"Dear Gods Nefertiri, we are such a sorry pair!" he had to wait while a fit of coughing beset him.She held him close, he felt as though she were trying to give him back his life."Can you ever find it in your heart to forgive me?"_

__

_"You've done nothing," she said gently, easing him back against the cool marble of the wall – a relief against the sudden fever that had crept upon him._

__

_"I did not save your father."_

__

_"No, Kem," She shortened his name the way Asru had done and tears came into his eyes."**I **__did not save him.I knew about Imhotep and Anck-Su-Namun, but such was the price for his silence about me and Ma'nakhtuf."_

__

_"How did he know?"_

__

_"It doesn't matter."She looked out to the sky again and he pointed out the star he meant."The star is called "Bay," Kem.It is the first star to rise at night and the last to set.Nomads travelling the desert at night call it the 'First Bright Sun – herald of the morning.'"_

__

_"Good then."He sighed the words, not having the strength to do otherwise."Let my son be so called.__Ankhefenamun__ __Bay__.Raise him well for me, Nefertiri – as the son you could have had with Ma'nakhtuf, had I not failed you so badly."_

A hand came down on his shoulder and startled him out of the dream.He fought to hold it… he thought somehow it was important.

"Easy buddy," O'Connell's steady voice calmed his rapidly beating heart only a little – _Bay… First Bright Sun – herald of the morning."Some dream.Looks like you cut yourself."_

Following the direction of O'Connell's gaze he saw that he had indeed – somehow – caught himself on the blade he had been cleaning before he'd closed his eyes to rest, a relatively light but long slice across the palm of his left hand.Rick handed him a length of cloth that he tied around his hand in a makeshift bandage.

"You want to talk about it?"

Ardeth looked hard at his friend.He'd made a conscious decision not to mention what he knew – and what became more certain to him with every moment – the precise detail of what the Elders had told him in case they changed their behaviour and took risks in order to help keep him safe."I am just tired, O'Connell.That and I worry about how all of this will end… about Jonathan…"

"And Meirionnydd?" He could tell that O'Connell was trying to be casual, but was at the same time fishing for information.

"I have been thinking that it would be better perhaps if she were to return to London with you and Evelyn." He answered.They were the hardest words he had ever had to say.

"Better than what, exactly?" The question took him by surprise.When he did not immediately answer, O'Connell continued."Better than her staying here with you?"

"The desert is no place for a gentle girl like Meiri."

"Well she wouldn't be _in the desert, would she?" O'Connell had him in that, if Meiri were to stay – if he held on to that one shred of hope that it __might be possible for her to remain – then she would be with the others… at the Oasis where the First Tribe made their home."Well would she?"_

He shook his head."You speak of things that cannot be, my friend," he said sadly."She would miss her home too much."

"Well here's something for you to add to that little hornets nest buzzing around in your head," He looked over at O'Connell as he sat down by the fire beside him."Because if you insist, sure, we'll take Meiri home with us and let her find her way back to Wales… but in spite of her accent, there is no _way in hell that she's a Taff."_

He frowned in confusion at the unfamiliar word."Taff?"

"Welsh… Evie never did manage to explain to me why 'Taff' but I've met a few since we've been married and there's no way that Meiri is Welsh."O'Connell stopped speaking but he sensed there was more that he wanted to say.

"Go on?" he promoted.

"Ardeth, listen… you can tell me to mind my own business if you want – but you're my friend and," He sighed, as did Ardeth."I know I don't know much about how these things are supposed to go for you guys… but killing a guy in front of the woman you're trying to impress…"

"O'Connell," He raised his eyebrows as O'Connell looked his way.

"I know, I know… mind my own business."

"Not at all." He leaned forward and sighed."I know you mean well, but I will not begin something that has no future.I will not hurt her."

He watched O'Connell look up at him, not once, but twice."You mean she was right?"

"Who?"

"Evie…"He met his friend's eyes that were still wide with surprise."She said you're in love with Meiri…"

"O'Connell."He paused for just a heartbeat."Mind your own business."

**

She woke with a small cry and scrambled away from the skins.How had she got back there?

With her heart beating like a steam engine in her chest she sat as still and as quietly as she could, listening for the hateful voice that had been taunting her before… or perhaps it had all been a dream.

She pressed her hand against her chest and the empty ache inside.Even if the voice had been in her mind she still felt the same overwhelming need to go to him… to find him and somehow make him listen to her and let her stay.

Pulling her borrowed clothes on as quickly as she could she left the tent and headed over to the fire.As she walked she looked around her, trying to spot Ardeth.

"Hello," she spun round as Evie came up behind her."Are you alright?"

"Just couldn't sleep," Meirionnydd said absently still looking around.

"You're worrying about earlier," Evie told her, linking their arms together and drew her to sit with her in front of the fire. "About what happened with that man."

"I just couldn't sleep." Meiri repeated.Though she trusted Evelyn, actually liked her, she wasn't sure she was ready to discuss something that had touched her so deeply as that had.

"Listen… strange as it may sound, I know what it's like to feel so confused about someone.When I first met Rick, I thought he was awful.You know, when he first met me, he kissed me."Meiri blushed fiercely.She felt the embers from the fire pale by comparison to the heat in her face and knew it would be clearly visible in the firelight."Oh my God!"

"Evie…" Meiri squirmed, "Please don't say anything.I don't think Ardeth meant to and it's really upset him."

"Heavens girl, I wouldn't dream of it." Evie playfully punched her arm."After all, who would I tell?You and I are the only women here."

Meirionnydd stared into the fire, wondering if perhaps she should confide in the older woman.There were so many things she didn't know and Evie was his friend, perhaps she could tell her the things she needed to know to avoid falling foul of any more Medjai etiquette.

"I've messed up so many times Evie," she said mournfully.

"Nonsense!" Evie scoffed."He adores you."

"But how can you tell?"she whispered, "I feel like I end up making him cross most of the time."

"He's a good man, Meiri.Deep down… at the most important level – where it matters."Meiri looked over at her as she put her hand gently onto her knee."Go and talk to him.He's not the ogre he might seem.He's over there… circulating amongst his men."

Meirionnydd got up.She wanted to talk to Ardeth anyway, if nothing else to apologise for questioning him in front of his men."Thanks, Evie."

"Just make sure you don't sneak up behind him."Meiri frowned in confusion and looked back at Evie."Just in case."

**

"Is there peace under the sands?" Ardeth uttered the traditional question quietly as he approached Tarek, on watch at the northern edge of the camp.

"All is quiet, sir." Tarek answered.

"Good then."Ardeth moved to the top of a nearby dune."Come and talk with me a moment."

"My lord?"Although clearly confused, the other Medjai moved to obey, moving to sit on the top of the dune with him.

"I have been thinking Tarek." Ardeth sighed."Karida… when I returned to the Oasis, my sister spoke to me again about your love for her."

"My…"

"Ardeth."Ardeth corrected and held up his hand to stop the other man from saying anything further."I know that always before I have been unwilling to discuss the matter but I know now that it is well past time the two of you were wed.If that is still your will."He looked across in time to see the happy smile breaking onto Tarek's face.It eased his melancholy feeling.

"Ardeth, nothing would make me happier," he said.

"Only promise me that you will care for her well… treat her as your equal and heed her counsel.She is a good woman, Tarek."He swallowed down a wave of emotion that was rising in him."She will make you proud as your wife."

"I promise, my brother."Tarek answered.

"Then when we return home you will take her under your roof and make her your wife."He clasped the other man by the forearm and drew him into a fierce brief hug."May Allah bless you both with many fine, strong children."

As he got up to take his leave of the other man, Tarek stopped him."Is everything all right, my chief?"

"Yes," he said quietly, and then sighed."All is well."

**

She spotted him as he was standing alone on the sand at the edge of the camp.The wind stirred the robes around his booted feet and teased his hair with its unseen fingers.She squinted up her eyes and tried to see what he was looking at out in the darkness.

She couldn't see anything.Remembering what Evie had said she tried to make as much noise as she could as she walked up to him.He heard her and turned his head.

"Meiri," he said quietly.He sounded tired."You should not leave the camp."

"I didn't.I came to try and find you."She answered equally quietly as he turned all the way around to face her."Ardeth, about earlier…"

He shook his head and she stopped speaking.Slowly he said, "I do not wish to fight with you, habibti."

"But I…"

"Meiri, in the larger scheme of things it does not matter."He held out his hand to her, and trembling – unsure of the sudden change in him – she put her small hand into his."Are you cold?"

"What?"She blushed, realising that he had noticed that she was nervous."Oh, erm… perhaps a little bit."

"Let me walk you back to the fire, little one," he said gently, and started walking with her, very slowly, toward the camp."Really, you should not be on the edges of the camp."

"Because I'm a woman?" she asked, not meaning to sound as sulky as she did.She cringed when he stopped walking and turned toward her and flinched when he raised his hand.He stopped and then very carefully pushed back a strand of hair from the side of her face. She shivered as his fingertips skimmed the side of her cheek.

"Because it is not safe," he corrected her."Meiri, you are afraid of me."

"No," she wasn't sure that was entirely true, but didn't want to offend him."You startled me that's all."Then half to change the subject and half because it truly worried her she said, "What did you do to your hand?"

"I was careless when cleaning my blade," he told her, but was not to be swayed."You have to know that I would never raise my hand to you Meirionnydd."

"I know," she breathed, and tightened her fingers around his, where he still held her hand."I'm just a little bit jumpy that's all.I…I think I had another dream."

"You think?"He started them walking again, bringing them closer to the fire, where Rick and Evie sat talking quietly.

"I thought I heard a voice, a man's voice, talking to me," she said, and shivered at the memory of the voice.Lazy, almost sensual, but chilling in a strange kind of way.

"What did the voice say?" The way Ardeth looked at her, concerned and serious, chilled her more.

"I…" she blushed again.

"Tell me." He suddenly caught her up by the shoulders.

"Ardeth!" she gasped, her hand flew to his chest to steady herself against him as her surprise unbalanced her."It was confusing… talking about me, about Wales and Egypt and…"

His grasp on her arms softened and she heard him sigh."I am sorry."He drew her tenderly forward until her forehead rested on his chest.

"It frightened me, and you weren't there…" she breathed into the folds of his robes, no longer caring if he heard.She felt the deep breaths he took.The absent but warm movement of his fingers against her arms and was soothed by it.

"Meiri, listen to me."After a moment he drew her away and she found herself looking up into his expressive brown eyes, soft and tantalisingly dark in the starlight."I do not wish to frighten you or cause you more distress, but please understand… if I thought for one moment that I could be with you, that I would sur…"

"Xatar!"The cry of alarm from the edge of the camp cut off what he had been about to say.As the camp suddenly came to life, his calm soft demeanour changed in an instant to the protective Medjai warrior at his heart.He pushed her urgently towards where Evie sat beside the fire.

"Stay with Evelyn!" he snapped and moved quickly toward the man that had called out, drawing his scimitars as he went.

**

He cursed inwardly, fighting to focus his mind and push back the very real fear that had erupted in him as the warning cry went up.

"What?"he demanded as he reached Fida, the sentry.

"It was just a glimpse… a man but not a…"The sand around them erupted and creatures poured into the camp.On all sides Ardeth saw movement – the same serpent headed warriors from the attack on them before only this time there were more of them.

"Heads!" he yelled to his warriors."Take their heads!"

"Ardeth…?" O'Connell came up behind him.He swore, thinking fast.O'Connell's guns were not going to work against these creatures.

"Take this," he tossed a scimitar, hilt first toward his friend, and urgently drew the long curved blade from the sheath at his back."You have to cut off their head.Like the Anubis warriors it is the only way to kill them."

Sensing movement behind him and seeing O'Connell's eyes widen, he spun round, instinctively ducking his head under the swing of the heavy incoming blade.He waited until the blade had reached the furthest part of the swing and the creature was open and unguarded, and then launched himself forward.The head came free of the creature's body and it exploded into a million sandy particles.That reminded him…

"Attack high, but guard low!" He advised his warriors and repeated the same more quietly to O'Connell in English.

He didn't have time to say more as more of the creatures came out of the dark toward them.All around him the sounds of the battle grew more and more desperate at the handful of Medjai warriors fought to keep the serpentine warriors out of the camp.

Ardeth found his right arm soon became heavy and ached with the effort of holding back the creature's blades.He could only use the knife for attacks.It would have shattered under the force of the creature's strikes.

The explosion of another creature before him as he took its head from its shoulders gave him the chance, and he tossed the knife and Scimitar to opposite hands.Thanking Allah once more for the fact that the creature's weapons were so slow he turned to face another – where the hell were they coming from?It seemed that as soon as one was cut down, another appeared out of nowhere to take its place.Knife and scimitar worked together, to force the creature's blade lower and lower until he could launch himself forward and take its head with the sweep of his knife while the scimitar held the sword – a wide bladed, extremely sharp khopesh – at bay, ignoring the slight nick he took to the top of his forearm as he did.

Two came at him at once, one from each side.He ducked under the leading edge of the first creature's blade, and then parried the strike of the second.Turning quickly he barely had the time to bring his blade down far enough to turn the back hand sweep of the first creature's khopesh.With one useable blade and two opponents, he was soon going to be in trouble.

"Need a hand there buddy?" O'Connell stepped in beside him, just as breathless as he was, but Ardeth had never been more pleased to see the American in all his life.

They worked together… sometimes fighting side by side, sometimes back to back when other creatures came at them out of the darkness beyond the camp.All around him he could see the rest of the Medjai, similarly beset… fighting in small groups or alone… fighting for their lives.

A trio of the snake headed man-beasts came at them, turning from the body of a fallen Medjai nearby.Ardeth felt his heart sink lower as he recognised Hashim… seasoned warrior and well respected comrade.He would have seen son into manhood, perhaps in the next few months… now his son would take his place among the Medjai in his father's stead.

"Ardeth, look out!"O'Connell's cry came barely in time for him to snap himself out of his melancholy.He threw himself into a sideways roll, but still caught the blunt end of the khopesh against his thigh.Now separated from his friend, he came to his knees and raised his scimitar to catch the swinging blade that came down toward his head.

Shaken, his arm almost numb from the force of the blow, he got his feet under him and forced his tired muscles through well practised routines.A strike, a second and then another numbing parry, over and over… trying to get back to O'Connell's side.

"Heads O'Connell, the heads!" he yelled as he finally made it back to his friend, who was slicing ineffectually at the torso of the creature in front of him, while somehow managing to dodge the second.

"I'm trying!" O'Connell gasped.

"RICK!"Evelyn's scream had them both turn, and duck the blades that came at them in that moment.Horrified, Ardeth saw at least five of the warriors had broken through the defensive line of Medjai and were heading for the women by the fire in the camps centre.

"Evelyn!" Rick answered, and launched a stinging attack on the nearest man-beast.

He too blurred into motion, finding the strength from somewhere to keep his exhausted muscles moving, forcing blades up until he could get under the guard of one creature and take it, in a shower of sand, to its death.He tried to force his battle toward the women, so that when he was done, he could give them the protection that he cursed himself for not ensuring from the beginning.

Sand showered against his back and he knew that O'Connell had rid them of yet another of the evil warriors, he started to smile but then a new sound all but stole the strength from his legs.

Meirionnydd screamed.

Turning his head he saw her struggling in the grasp of two of the snake headed warriors… her feet not touching the ground.

"Meiri, no!" he cried, and punched right past the creature in front of him, trying to get closer, trying to save her.Making the biggest error a warrior could ever make and placing an enemy behind him.

"Behind!" O'Connell's warning woke him to the danger and he spun around.But off balance, distracted and badly out of position the hilt of his scimitar caught on the bandaged that covered his injured hand…

_His blade slipped in his injured hand and hadn't the strength to turn the blow aside or stop the deadly sharp blade_

… It slipped, and he wasn't able to parry the blow, or turn aside the deadly blade coming in toward his exposed chest.

Something suddenly wrapped around his leg and a heavy weight thumped against his shoulder, stealing the breath from his lungs, not once, but twice as he hit the ground.Over the top of where he had been standing a flying scimitar whirled in the air and a second later, he and O'Connell, for that was the weight that was in that moment pinning him to the sand, were showered in sticky red sand.

But he had to get to Meiri.Heaving O'Connell off, he rolled over and came to his feet… but strong arms grabbed him.

"Ardeth, no," O'Connell's voice strained as he fought to hold him back.He was frantic at the sight of the creatures dragging her away."You can't save her this way… you won't get to her."

"Let me go!" All rational thought vanished from his mind under the weight of the threat to Meiri.

"Listen to me," O'Connell forced him back a step further away from the serpentine warriors that were already withdrawing."We know where they're taking her.'Live today – fight tomorrow,' you told me that.It's good advice buddy!"

Breathing hard, feeling battered, bruised and heartbroken with worry, O'Connell's words started to penetrate.

"It's good advice," O'Connell repeated as he started to calm and stopped struggling so much.

"Meiri," he half moaned, half whispered – watching as the dragged her out of his sight into the dark night of the desert.

**

"If you stop struggling, I'll tell him to let you go," Meiri considered the options for the moment, and then continued struggling. Anck-Su-Namun continued, "All right then, I can wait until you've exhausted yourself."

"He killed Anton for what he did, you know," she said defiantly, "He'll do the same to you."

"He?"

"Ardeth." When Anck-Su-Namun started laughing she stopped struggling with the warrior holding her.

"Don't tell me the Medjai has caught your eye little girl?" she said.Meiri blushed and then felt suddenly cold all over when Anck-Su-Namun's face turned suddenly serious."You can never be anything to him… forbidden."

Anck-Su-Namun nodded to the guard and he let go of Meiri.She almost fell, and bit back tears at Anck-Su-Namun's words.She wouldn't let her see how much she was hurting inside at the thought.But what did she mean, forbidden?

"Here," Meiri looked in suspicion at a bundle of clothes Anck-Su-Namun was holding out toward her."Put these on."

"I will not!" she pushed them back toward the other woman.

She backed up a step, back into the arms of the warrior behind her as Anck-Su-Namun stepped up menacingly toward her."You _will put them on or I will dress you myself, here and now in front the warrior.As long as you co-operate, little girl, I have no intention of harming you… You're Usertim… and you're going to do something very important for me."_

"Usertim?" Meiri had heard the word used before, of course she had – but how could she be one of them.Anton had killed them all… and anyway she was Welsh, born and raised in the sight of Mount Snowdon."No, you're wrong, you…"

She stopped and took the book that Anck-Su-Namun was holding out to her, open on a page close by the middle.A page dated with her birthday.

_Finally, the mewling little thing is born.A girl, thank God… that makes life easier.These Usertim witches are all the same.They appear to be so strong at first, but wear down quickly.This one begged for her life – and actually thought I was going to let her and the baby go, but no.I watched her long enough to know that having her around – even without the bell, would be dangerous.It felt so good to finally start and get revenge on those responsible for Father's death… through the Usertim I'll get to the Medjai and my God will they pay when I finally get what I want.Once Sacred Warriors for God… they'll be mine… Suti's hounds to do with as I wish.The desert will be a very different place then._

"That "mewling little thing" was you," Anck-Su-Namun said as she looked up tearfully from what was obviously Anton Ferrier's journal."Born in Egypt and then spirited away to a childless woman friend of his in Wales.They'd met in Brittany, so he said… had a torrid little affair for a while, before she bored him.But he never forgot his little Welsh lamb and she was quite happy to do anything for him – particularly if it gave her the daughter she always wanted, but never managed to have."

"Mam…" Meiri felt the tears start to flow over her face.Tears of sheer betrayal… that all the years of her life, the woman she'd loved as her mother, thought the world of, was only working for the pig of a man that had so unspeakably violated her life with nightmares and visions, that she thought she would never get it back.

"So you see..." Anck-Su-Namun added softly."Even if he could get here to rescue you – which he can't – he wouldn't have anything to do with you, because you're Usertim, the last one in fact, and long, long ago his ancestor forbade the Medjai and the Usertim to have anything to do with each other.On pain of worse than death!"

"You're lying!"she sobbed, but in her heart she knew that it was the truth – from the visions and the voices, she knew…

"Why would I lie?" Anck-Su-Namun answered.She handed the clothes to Meirionnydd, who took them, shaking with tears."Put them on.Become who you are and embrace what you were born to do."

"Ardeth…" Meiri sobbed his name as though he would hear and understand her pain, her confusion… her loss.

"He won't come for you Meirionnydd," Anck-Su-Namun settled an arm around her shoulder and drew her head onto her breast, stroking her hair."And if he tries, I'll have to kill him."

"Please don't hurt him," Meiri raised her head to look tearfully into Anck-Su-Namun's eyes.

"All right," Anck-Su-Namun smiled, but the smile came nowhere near her eyes."Just for you…I'll make it quick and painless."

"No," Meiri stepped away."I'll do what you ask… anything, but you must promise not to harm Ardeth."

Wordlessly, Anck-Su-Namun nodded to her.Meiri wasn't foolish enough to trust her, but right now it was the best chance she had to buy herself – and more importantly the Medjai – some time.

"This belonged to your mother."Anck-Su-Namun raised Meiri's right arms and placed a leather bracer over her wrist.As it was tied into place, Meiri gazed at the hieroglyphics tooled into the leather and then painted in gold."It says who you are Meirionnydd – a servant of Usert… descended from the line of the woman whose name was…" she pointed to a cartouche."Asru."

**

Evie rolled over as Rick lay himself down beside her.He opened his arms for her and she moved to pillow her head on his chest.He sighed and she peered up at him in the darkness.

"How is he doing?" she asked quietly.She was very worried about Ardeth, had never seen him like that.He was always so calm and collected.

"Not so good, honey," Rick said quietly."He's resting now, but I doubt he'll sleep."

"What happened out there Rick?I've never seen him like this."Evie leaned up on her elbow and looked down on her husband in concern."Something's got him spooked, and it isn't just his love for Meiri."

"Hey that's enough… enough to get _me spooked anyway," he said lightly, but gave Evie a look when she slapped his arm."What was that for?"_

"Just because he's a Medjai warrior, doesn't mean he was never going to fall in love, Rick O'Connell."She snuggled down."I think it's kind of sweet actually.But it doesn't change the fact that something is really bothering him… and something to do with that shrine."

She nodded her head, determined that the wall of text was not going to beat her no matter how mixed up it was – or how obscurely religions the references were.She'd crack the wall and find the key to this whole mess.She stopped her train of thought.She didn't like the idea of Rick going off with the Medjai.Normally she wouldn't object, but those creatures… they were fierce and tough… and Rick just wasn't _used to fighting with scimitars and swords.He was just as likely to get __his head chopped of as he was to cut off the creatures' head._

"I'm staying here with you, Evie," he said, almost as though he had been listening to what was going on in her head."He's leaving four of the guys with us, because he said he needs that translation, but he's got to take as many with him as he can."

"What about the reinforcements?" she asked… knowing that Ardeth had sent a rider to the nearest of the twelve tribes to gather more forces even before Meiri got taken, when it was just Jonathan that they had to rescue.

"They arrived.Twenty-five of the meanest, ugliest looking Medjai you ever did see." He said with a light caress of her arm that sent shivers down her spine.In any other circumstances it could be romantic, lying together beside a warm fire under a clear desert sky… but with the treat to her brother and her friends, that was the last thing on her mind."Even the guy with the hook."

Evelyn shuddered.As long as she lived she didn't think she'd forget that guy… herald for some of the most terrifying, but also the most wonderful times of her life.

"Will that be enough?Those warrior-snake-things just seemed to keep on coming."Evie sat up then and peered across the clearing at her friend.He was talking quietly with one of his men.She struggled to remember the name of the other Medjai and thought that "Rashid" sounded right.The both looked terribly serious.

**

"And I shall need you to command them." Ardeth put his hand onto his friend's shoulder."The chances are the forces will remain outside of their main camp to keep us from getting even close."

"Chances, Ardeth, but not a certainty."Rashid argued."All I am saying, my friend, is that it is my belief you should take at least a small number of warriors in with you."

"The more of us enter the encampment, the less chance we have of getting both Jonathan and Meirionnydd out alive."He sighed, "I know what I am doing, Rashid."

"I did not question that, and would not."

"You know we are not enough in number yet to simply ride them down and destroy them."Ardeth explained patiently, "And I do not trust Anck-Su-Namun not to harm either Evelyn's brother or Meiri.You know I cannot allow that, just as well as you know why.So we must undertake the rescue as I have described, in the Old Way."

To his relief Rashid nodded calmly."And how long will it take for them to arrive, Ardeth?"

"The message was sent – they will be here my friend.A day – two at most.And once we have them, and Jonathan and Meiri are freed, we will finish it."

"All right… the Old Way it is."Rashid smiled thinly in his direction."So once you are in, which direction do you want us to take?"

"Take them out toward Telkhara and then double back to meet me at Bhariik, wait for us there.It is where the others will come."

Finally he leaned back against the sand and began to stare up at the sky.He knew his long time friend was troubled – wanted to go in and destroy the enemy as with any ordinary battle.But this was not an ordinary battle… and Anck-Su-Namun was not an ordinary enemy.


	12. Just a Scratch

Power Is

Chapter 12 

Lying flat at the top of the dune, beyond which lay Anck-Su-Namun's camp Ardeth and his two companions swallowed hard.It was an awesome prospect, riding down into the camp to draw the many, many serpentine warriors away.Ardeth swept his gaze over the camp again… he worried that there were too many to make the plan work successfully.

But it _had to work.He had to get Meiri and Jonathan out of there before the combined might of the twelve tribes swept down over the temple and crushed Anck-Su-Namun and her evil once and for all.She would not rise again… that he made as his private vow._

"Just remember," he said quietly to the two men at his sides, Rashid, whom he had named as his second in command, and Azim, one of the reinforcements that had arrived in the early hours."Engage as many as you can and lead them away from the site.It will have been a pointless exercise if I cannot get them out safely."

He would not allow himself to say their names, two people very important to him, he had to stay focussed – driven.He had to remain fully the warrior and not the man.

"Are you certain of your path, my chief?" Azim asked quietly."There are many of them and if we fail… if they do not take the bait…"

"They will.They are summoned, they follow only the will of he that summoned them, so once they have their orders, they will pursue." Ardeth sounded calmer than he felt."Anck-Su-Namun will not want the Medjai around to spoil her plans… though what she means to do in a temple as old as this one, Allah only knows."

"You sound as if you know the creature well."

"We have crossed blades before, my brother." Ardeth murmured, turning his attention back toward the ancient temple.Something about it struck him deeply.He felt a familiar sense of… something, he couldn't quite place what.

"Ardeth, promise that you will be careful." Rashid finally spoke."There is risk enough involved in this and in all honesty as First Medjai you should be commanding your forces and letting another take your place in the rescue."

"You have my word, Rashid.I will take no unnecessary risks." Ardeth finally decided on a route into the camp."And no other, my friend, you know as well as I, could do this.Jonathan saved my life at Ahm Shere, and I must get him out."

"And the girl?"Azim asked.

"She _is my life." Ardeth breathed so quietly that neither of the other men could have heard._

**

It was cold inside the temple and Meirionnydd shivered.She looked down at herself, at the clothes she was "almost" wearing.The loose silky bottoms waved around her legs as she moved as though there were a draught blowing through the chamber, waves of white and gold that caressed her calves and thighs and fitted low enough on her hips that they revealed her navel.She folded her arms over her bare stomach, feeling very self conscious.The blouse she wore was little better – if it could be called a blouse.It was little more than a pleated rectangle of material, with shoulder straps, white and gold like the pants.It barely covered her breasts enough to be decent.From the lower fringe of it hung small gold discs, all around with jingled when she moved.She tried putting on one of the veils that went with the outfit, but it seemed just to accentuate how very _undressed she was, and made her feel even worse._

"It suits you!" the voice made her jump as Anck-Su-Namun returned.She held a bowl in her hands with something steaming within.

"Why don't you go to hell!" she spat, her fear making her irritable.

"I've been, little girl," Anck-Su-Namun answered."Very overrated.Sit."

She straightened herself defiant of Anck-Su-Namun's instructions for her to sit on top of a marble bier.She didn't like being spoken to like some kind of animal – a dog to obey the command of its master.

"What do you want from me?" she said.

"Right now, I'd like you to sit down." Anck-Su-Namun mocked."Because then we can get started."

"I don't want anything to _do with you." Meiri backed away when she advanced toward her._

"You don't have the choice."She shuddered as the other woman's fingers took hold of her arm and guided her toward the steaming bowl, "Well actually you do.Either you behave and let me do this – or I'll have to hurt you.And then you're going to see for me Meirionnydd…"

"When the sun stops shining!" Meiri hissed.

"That comes later," Anck-Su-Namun answered sweetly."First we have to finish bringing you into Power of all you can be, then you see for me… find me the seventh bell… and then we'll see about that pesky sunshine."

She pushed Meiri down onto the bier and made a sudden grasp for her left hand.Meiri winced as her wrist complained at being turned the wrong way.When Anck-Su-Namun reached into the steaming bowl and took out and black paste, she tried to pull her hand away.

"No!" she said and squirmed, but the fingers locked around her wrist."What are you doing?"

She screamed as Anck-Su-Namun spread the black paste over her wrist.It was hot, and it burned, but more than that, the heat seemed to penetrate as though it were eating into her flesh.Through the colours that were dancing in her head she vaguely felt Anck-Su-Namun ease her head down onto her shoulder and encircle her with her arms, rocking her as though she were a child.

"The pain won't last much longer," Anck-Su-Namun said softly."I just didn't have the time to do this properly."

"Do what?" Meiri forced the words through her clenched teeth."What is it doing to me?"

"Marking you as Hers."

"I'm not hers… not anybody's!"Meiri suddenly realised she shouldn't be there in the other woman's arms… shouldn't allow herself to be close to the creature that was a thousand times worse than Anton ever was.She pulled away, at least as far as the end of her arm, which Anck-Su-Namun still held.

"When will you stop fighting this and just accept it.You're destined for great things…"

"Stop it!" Meiri tried, but could not stop the frightened and angry tears from escaping from her eyes.She tugged her arm free of Anck-Su-Namun's grasp and moaning in pain she scraped away the now dried paste from her wrist.Staring back at her from her pale, slightly olive flesh was a tiny ankh shaped mark – just like a tattoo – with small almost delicate looking bells around the ring at the top of the ankh."What have you _done!"_

"Usert has accepted you little girl, taken you under Her wings," Anck-Su-Namun said and caressed the side of her face and Meiri flinched away."You'll wear it well… and then when you've found the seventh bell for me… I'll show you how to wield Her power."

"I'll see _nothing for you…." Meiri started.A light touch on her wrist made her jump and cut off what she was saying._

"You will… or I'll be forced to make you," Anck-Su-Namun said threateningly, "And you really wouldn't want that."

She tried to move away when Anck-Su-Namun grabbed both her hands to bind them together behind her back with coarse rope.It chaffed against her already sore left wrist, sore both from the marking, and also still delicate from when she had been bound and almost abused by Rashid… also controlled by Anck-Su-Namun.

"I'll leave you a little while to think," Anck-Su-Namun purred."I'm sure you'll come to the right decision."

But Meiri didn't need to come to a decision, nor did she need to see, to know where the seventh bell was.She already knew.She knew that Ardeth had it, and that he would keep it safe from Anck-Su-Namun.She also knew that there was no way she would tell her that… even if it meant her death.

**

Just as he got himself into position he saw them appearing over the dune like a dark avenging shadow sweeping down toward the camp.He suddenly thought he realised why, to some, the name Medjai conjured terror and was used as stories to keep the wayward children of Egyptologists in line.

Even so few, they were an impressive sight and it did his heart good to know that.

A shout went up from the camp below him, ordinary, human mercenaries crying out in warning, the single word that he didn't need to hear properly to know what it would be.He had heard it often enough in his life to know.

He waited, watching for the moment that would come… had to come if his plan were to succeed.He breathed deeply to control the rise of disquiet, even panic – an unwelcome feeling that he was not used to – inside him when the moment had not come by the time he had expected it.Damn it, his men were close… too close and he knew Rashid well enough to know that he would not turn the men aside until he too had heard the order given for the summoned creatures to drive off the Medjai and to keep them away.They were riding into a slaughter!

He moaned aloud when the first of the gunshots sounded and a horse and rider went down.They were too far away for him to see who it was, but he couldn't allow this.Honour was honour, but his first duty was to his Warrior Brothers.He would have to find another way to free Meiri and Jonathan when the rest of the Medjai arrived – during the main assault itself.

He rose to his knees, meaning to get up and give the order for the Medjai to retreat, when a ringing cry came out across the camp, amplified by unearthly power.

"No!" the female voice was low and sensual and wove dark tendrils of seduction around his mind that he fought to push away."Drive them away!Drive them away and keep them away until my work is complete and they are His!"

"Now, Rashid, now!" He said urgently, and dropped to the ground again so as to remain unseen.Much to his relief, Rashid steered the Medjai around so that they were leaving the camp and the serpentine warriors followed."Gently now… not too far."

As soon as he was secure that everything was going smoothly, he began his own part in the plan.He carefully dropped off the small ledge on which he had been lying, to the ledge below… heading for the top of the temple at the heart of the camp.

He was confident he could deal with any guards that might have been placed around the temple, and was as sure as he had ever been sure of anything that both Meirionnydd and Jonathan would be somewhere inside.Lowering himself down again he dropped flat to the top of the external part of the temple as some of the mercenaries turned his way.Scooting to the rearmost pillar holding up the roof he quickly checked the ground below, hung down as far as he could and then dropped to the ground.

The sudden jolt to his legs and ankles as he landed jarred him and numbed his lower body, but he had no time to consider it – he just melted back into the shadow of the temple, where it met the sandstone wall, pulling up the veil across his face.Breathing slowly he heard the footsteps getting louder and louder.

"Damn me, I was sure I saw something," said one voice.

"You're goin' off your head.'s that woman… got us all worked up," added a second.

"Freaking us all out," said a third.Was nothing ever easy?

One of the men stepped into his line of vision, slowly… he inched forward.It would have to be quick – he would need to choose his moment precisely.Turning his head, he saw the other two.All three were armed, with handguns and knives at their belt.

"Maybe we should check around the other side," the second man suggested, and he and the one beside him turned as though to walk away.

He moved.Dashed out a step and grabbed the third man, one hand over his mouth the other around his chest.Pulling the man back into the shadows with him, he pulled back sharply, snapping the man's neck.He sighed.It was regrettable to behave like a common assassin, but he couldn't risk that the men would alert others that would block his way out of the temple with Meiri and Jonathan.

He shook his head.Getting in was always easy… it was always getting out that was the problem.

He lowered the dead man silently to the ground, and set about finding his way through the pillars, out of sight, to the other men, who were destined to share a similar fate.

**

They rode a little way before stopping to make sure that the creatures were following, even to engage in battle for a little while, but not too long and they took no risks.Ardeth had been clear on that.They were to take no risks, just to lead the creatures away.

They stayed just a breath ahead of the foul creatures and, where they could, picked them off a few at a time.It would be all the better for the combined tribes warriors when they made their final assault that there were as few of these creatures as possible.

Rashid sighed.Who was he trying to convince?To whom was he justifying his actions?The real reason he allowed the men to pick off the creatures as and when they could was that he was frustrated.Frustrated at the need for caution; at the need for yet another battle against supernatural creatures such as these, but most of all for the worry he felt for his friend.

Something was wrong.He knew it because he had known Ardeth for almost the whole of his life and had never once seen him act this way.Of course he had never seen him in love before, but he _had seen him when the Elders had all but insisted that he marry Ashna a couple of years previously._

Then he had been difficult, moody, had made mistakes that he would never have expected of a man like Ardeth, but even so – it had been nothing like this.This was something more than the though of spending his life with a woman at his side.He started to wonder if he had pushed too hard to being him to Meiri – to make him realise the way he felt and to accept it, but then no.He gave a humourless laugh, just as with Ashna, if Ardeth had not wanted to walk that path, then he would not have done so.

This brought him back to the terrible thought that something was dreadfully and dangerously wrong.

**

The inside of the temple was perhaps the most impressive sight he had ever laid his eyes upon, with the possible exception of the treasure chamber at Hamunaptra.The walls were highly polished and encrusted with gems and gold and the steps that led, surprisingly, upward into the depths of the temple were obsidian black.

The air inside was cold and, in spite of his robes, gave him a sudden chill.Keeping close to the wall, he started up the short flight of steps – hoping he didn't come across too many guards too soon.

Reaching the top, he saw two guards, more of Anton's mercenaries now working for Anck-Su-Namun.Luck was with him.They were looking the other way and he silently thanked Allah as he ducked into a nearby alcove and flattened himself into the narrow gap between the wall and a towering statue of Osiris.

He took the time to take a closer look at the temple.It was maze like but very beautiful.From where he sheltered he could see at least three staircases leading up at to various levels, some in better states of repair than others and he would have expected from something of so obvious an age..But the first obstacle would be getting past the two men.

An all out fight would get him noticed, and he couldn't afford for that to happen, at least not so soon and he would prefer not at all, but he'd already discovered he had a distaste for sneaking around, for compromising his honour and integrity and taking a life… any life, even ones already so obviously damned without first giving the man a chance to redeem himself.

In the end pragmatism won out over everything.He had no choice, so taking a deep breath he stepped out behind the two men with scimitars drawn and reversing the hilts, brought them down sharply on the backs of their skulls.Swiftly he dragged the unconscious men into the alcove and used their own belts to tie them up, and the sleeves of their shirts as gags.

_Guarding the stairs but looking the opposite way.The thought struck him as odd.Very well, they would not be expecting an attack from the outside of the temple – so they were guarding something within.The thought drew his gaze to the centre staircase.It went up a little way to a kind of apex, beyond which he couldn't see.If the men were guarding any direction it was that way… but against something getting in, or getting out.That uneasy question had him wonder at the wisdom of taking that path._

Slowly, step by step and looking around him every step of the way he mounted the stairs.Nearing the Apex he saw that the stairs descended again into a chamber that was not quite as well preserved – in fact it looked as though it had been intentionally defaced.A broken staircase lay to the side of the chamber, and all around the walls were headless statues, and destroyed hieroglyphics.With another deep breath, he descended from stairs into the damaged room.

It was darker there… less torches were lit.Instinct told him that he had to go up, find a way to reach the opening at the head of the stairs where the last few were missing, but he didn't want to leave behind potential problems to encounter on the way out and there were three other openings leading off from the room.He chose one and quietly padded in that direction.

Many long minutes of exploring the chambers and passages that led away from the centre room revealed nothing that might be a threat.Nor did he come across Meirionnydd or even Jonathan, so he returned to his starting point and began to find his way up the stairs until they ran out, and then jumping slightly, hauled himself up into the next doorway.

"Is there no end to this?" he breathed.Standing up, he looked around another chamber, with four more exits.Again he checked them all, to clear the way behind him.Three of four led to dead ends, with gilded statues of long forgotten gods.The fourth to another set of stairs, this time going down.The light from the torches at the top disappeared after a while… the staircase went a _long way down._

**

The pain in her wrist had receded to a dull throbbing ache, and was only exacerbated by the rope around her wrist.She was thankful for the bracer that protected her right wrist.The other end of the rope was attached to a stout stone pillar, and allowed her to move around a little… just enough to let her feel like a dog on a leash.

She found she had guards, two of them, one either side of the door.The leered at her when she came near and she pulled the veil more closely around her and return to her place on top if the bier.At least there they couldn't see her, not without leaving their posts.

She didn't want to think, but there was little else for her to do.The strange voice that had spoken with her had been right after all.This _was her home and everything else she had known… all the things she had believed for the whole of her life were lies._

She couldn't stop the tears.Her mother – a lie… he real mother an unknown woman that had died trying to keep her secret safe, trying to keep the bells from coming into Anton's hands and now _she was all that stood between Anck-Su-Namun and the last of those bells.She shuddered in fear._

But then no… not the only one.Ardeth had the bell… she'd seen that in her visions, a beautiful Egyptian woman that, dying, had come to him to give him the part of the ancient artefact that she carried, so no… she was not alone.She stood with the Medjai in the protection of the artefact that would grant access to Usert's power, for good or ill… she suspected ill if Anck-Su-Namun got her hands on it.

Silently she wished for Ardeth to come for her, to take her away from this temple and prove Anck-Su-Namun wrong about him not coming for her, not wanting her, not… 

Her train of through halted with an abrupt heart wrenching lurch that set all her senses screaming danger.She turned slowly around full circle.The temple, she had been here before… at least in her mind… in her dream.Hieroglyphics leaped from the wall to mock her and make her desolation complete.

"Ardeth," she whispered him name.She had to do something… had to make it just a dream and not, she swallowed hard… anything more.

**

By his guess he was at least now twice as deep as he had been on the surface and still he could see nothing but the unrelieved blackness of the narrow stairwell all around him.He kept one hand on the wall.It was cold against his fingertips.

He almost tripped when the stairs came to an end and he tried to go down one more.The floor under his feet was smooth and close by the wall felt dusty underfoot… and up ahead he could see the faint glimmer of a torch.He shivered.He sensed he was getting closer.

It was nothing he could afterward put a name to, just a feeling of cold, hard dread that crept up inside him and made him reach for the hilt of his second scimitar, finally coming away from the wall.

He took a deep breath, and more to settle him than anything, turned both blades around his hands, feeling the weight of them a comfort as they settled back into his palms.Feeling that he settled into his warrior senses more fully, with everything on alert for possible danger.

It came in suddenly at him, from the left hand side, a serpentine creature that towered over him in the dark. Instinctively he raised his left hand, scimitar blade ready to catch a high strike while his right turned a circle in front of his body to catch and mid to low thrust.

Fighting blind… it was something all Medjai were taught do, as boys, blindfold while the teacher came at them with swords and knives, so that they would learn to hear the nuances – the way a man telegraphed his every move with the shuffle of feet, or the sighs that came from his breast.But this was no man, so all he could do was to listen for the rush of the air as the Khopesh moved toward him, and block as best he could whilst slowly edging toward the light.

Higher…

He started to realise the creature was forcing his blades higher.He had a thought.It was risky, to allow the man-beast to think he had fallen for the ruse, to let it take his blades high and then strike when the creature came in low.In the light, it would have been as easy as breathing… but in the pitch black of the unlit corridor it could be the second between life and death.

But the creature was circling him toward the darkness, away from the light and he had little choice.He couldn't allow himself to become trapped here, become fatigued by the battle and unable to find Meiri or Jonathan in time to save them from whatever foul design Anck-Su-Namun had for them.

He felt the air around him shift, the sudden down draught against the front of his robes, and waiting as long as he dare, which was little longer than a heartbeat, then picturing the creature in his mind, swept both blades across the space where he prayed the neck would be and flung his arms apart.For a gut wrenching moment, nothing but the movement of air, pushed toward him as the unseen blade came in toward his middle, he took a deep breath, preparing for the explosion of pain that he could no longer avoid…the heavy blade of the khopesh fell against his booted foot as he was showered in sand.

He let out his breath in a rush and whispered a swift prayer of thanks to Allah.

Making a mental note to bring one of the torches on the way out, he turned and made his way, swiftly but still cautiously toward the precious light.As he got nearer he could hear the soft murmur of voices, men's voices.

"Yeah, but whose to know?" asked the first.Ardeth did not like his tone.

"Little minx'd probably scream the place down.You'd have Anck-Su-Namun and her devil freaks on your ass faster than you could say…"

"Leave now, or die.The choice is yours." Ardeth said and stepped forward into the light, scimitars crossed but ready before him.He knew there was little chance of either man leaving.Both back-pedalled in fright as he appeared to suddenly materialise from nowhere.

The quicker of the two men raised his gun Ardeth's way, but he swept it from the man's hand with a swift tap from his blade, gashing the man's knuckles. blood dripped to the dust on the floor.

"Bastard, you'll pay for that."The man hissed, and drew a long curving dagger.His companion did likewise.

"I think not," Ardeth said calmly, poised, waiting for the man or men to make their move.Move they did, both of them coming in at him at once, one high the other low.His scimitars swung in two arcs before him, travelling in opposite directions deflecting both knives with ease and returning to their original position crossed, right resting over left.He raised an eyebrow and turned his head slightly on one side.

Clearly angered by his indifference the men came on quicker and more fiercely.But their anger ruled them and they made mistakes, mistakes which, Ardeth conceded, would probably not have mattered against one of their own kind, but against a Medjai warrior trained and practised in the art of the blade, they would ultimately prove fatal.

But for Meiri…

She heard the fighting and stepped into the doorway, into Ardeth's line of sight and for a moment his resolve faltered.He had simply never seen anything so beautiful.The clothing hugged her body and accentuated the light olive tones of her exposed skin.Her long dark hair was like a cloak around her veiled shoulders, and her lips, where she had been biting them were red, inviting…He tried not to let his eyes linger on the naked skin of her smooth stomach, or the delicate swell of her breasts in their white and gold wrap, but after all, he was a man, standing before the woman of his heart.He breathed her name in wonder.

One of the men turned to follow the direction of his gaze, the other took the moment of distraction and turned it to his advantage, lunging forward with the knife.

"Ardeth!" she cried out a warning to him and he swung up his scimitar to parry the blow, but followed through, punching the man in the face and then with a downward sweep of the curving blade in his hand, sliced the man across the chest.He fell back, clutching the wound and looking in disbelief as Ardeth followed, to swiftly end his life with a well placed thrust of his weapon.

He turned quickly as the sound of a chuckle coming from the room in which Meiri still stood.The other man was advancing toward her as she backed around a bier in the centre of the room.Evidently he believed that his partner would keep the Medjai engaged for longer than he had, for his back was fully turned toward the warrior.Turning the scimitar in his hand he launched it end over end toward the doomed man who, as the deadly blade found its mark, turned a look of disbelief his way.

"Man, you're good," he gasped, as Ardeth followed the blade into the room.

"No," Ardeth corrected as he yanked it free and supported the dying man to the ground."I am Medjai."

He put both blades onto the top of the bier and drew his knife to cut Meiri free.She threw her arms around his neck and held him tightly.

"Ardeth," she said, and trembling against him until he wrapped his arms around her barely clothed body and held her tightly.

"I am here, Meiri," he whispered into her hair."I am going to get you out of here."

He felt her stiffen in his arms and then she pulled away. He frowned at her in confusion and reached for her hands.

She pulled away and moved around him.He turned to keep her in sight and reached for her again when her voice caught as she said, "No, you mustn't say that, you…"

"Why not?" he asked. "It's true.You will be safe now.We will find Jonathan and get out of here."

Gently he took her shoulders and eased her shaking form back into a light embrace.He held her softly against him."Do not fear, Meiri."

"How touching," Anck-Su-Namun said coldly.She had hold of Meiri's arm and pulled her from his grasp.He moved toward his scimitars, but stopped as Anck-Su-Namun drew his attention to the knife she held at Meirionnydd's throat. "Ah ah..!"

"Let her go, Anck-Su-Namun," he said. He flashed a quick glance toward two of the serpent warriors in the doorway to the room.

"I choose not to," Anck-Su-Namun said calmly."But by the decree of your own ancestor, Ardeth Bay, it is you who must let her go."

He shook his head."I cannot," he said."She is under my protection and she…"

"Look at her First Medjai!"Anck-Su-Namun ran a suggestive hand down Meiri's left arm toward her hand."You see it, I know you do," she said.

Meiri shuddered and tried to move away."No," she moaned."Ardeth, please, don't listen to her, she…" she broke off in pain as Anck-Su-Namun dug the tip of the knife into her delicate throat just hard enough to break the skin.

"Let her go!" he almost raised his voice.

"To what end Ardeth?" Anck-Su-Namun asked as though speaking to a lover.It made him feel physically sick."So that you and the little Usertim can ride off into the sunset?I don't…"

"She is not!" Ardeth felt as though he had been stabbed in the heart, even as he said the words of denial, he knew otherwise.The clothes… the bracer she wore… He swallowed hard as Anck-Su-Namun slowly raised Meiri's left wrist to show him the mark she bore.All his blood drained to his feet and he felt suddenly light headed.A physical pain burned at his insides and reflected in the tears that came to his eyes.

"Meirionnydd..." he gasped.

"Ardeth, please, I didn't…"

"Born of the line of Asru and taken from the desert when still a babe in arms." Anck-Su-Namun said. "Quite fitting that she should return to us now, First Medjai, now that the sistrum is almost intact and the prophesy can be fulfilled."

"I'm telling you nothing!" Meirionnydd spat.

"Please, Sayyadina, calm yourself," He said.His voice caught on the term of respect as it twisted the dagger that still lay in his heart.

"Don't call me that," Meirionnydd pleaded with him.Everything in her heart showed in her eyes.It ripped him in two, and indecision clouded his judgement as he fought between the heart of a man and the duty of a Medjai, but already he was damned, what difference would it make?

"She can tell you nothing, Anck-Su-Namun, because she knows nothing," he said.

"She will tell me.The Usertim _see you know?"_

"The last of the seven bells is safe where you and your kind will never reach it."

"Don't…!" Meiri repeated, evidently she thought he was to reveal the truth to Anck-Su-Namun.

He breathed in deeply against the hurt inside at what he knew he must do, as duty flooded his mind, breaking his heart still further.Meiri was Usertim, as unattainable to him as the stars themselves, but his sacred duty he could fulfil… and he must.He would ensure that she was safe, but further than that… there could be nothing – although he would never stop loving her.

"My kind, Ardeth?" Anck-Su-Namun asked."You know nothing of my kind."

"Your every action defines you, creature," he said coldly."You sought out Seti's love for the power it would bring you, but when that love confined you and the power was not enough, you trapped Imhotep.But even the power he gave you – the promise of immortality was not enough for you, you betrayed him and now you seek a god's power to satiate your unholy lust.That I cannot allow, and will kill anyone that tries to give it to you."

"Ardeth…" Meiri whispered.The note of shock and betrayal in her voice broke off yet another piece of his soul.

"Even the girl?" Anck-Su-Namun asked sarcastically.

He didn't answer, not verbally anyway, because he would not lie and he knew he could never deliberately harm Meiri.Instead he picked up his blades and, almost closing his eyes to make the strike, launched himself at Anck-Su-Namun.

He was more than a little relieved when she pushed Meiri aside and forced himself not to turn when she cried out as she fell to the ground by the wall of the room.Anck-Su-Namun drew twin, three pronged parrying daggers from her belt.She surprised him entirely when she caught his first three strikes.

"Hurts, doesn't it?" she taunted him."To want something you cannot have.To be nothing but a slave to your duty and another's words."

"Is that what this is?" he said, launching another blurring attack which she met strike for strike."Revenge?"

Locked together, his blades held in place by the subtle twist of her daggers, she looked deep into his eyes.

"This is the power of a woman in a world that man thinks he rules!" she said more chilling that the coldest of desert nights.

"So you think to summon the God of Evil and expect him to lie in your lap like a pup," he said, straining against her unnatural strength, "You are a fool Anck-Su-Namun.A selfish, ambitious fool!"

"Kekham ehrr!" she roared toward her two immobile warriors and in the same moment, pushed hard against his arms to drive him away from her.

Expecting the move, he maintained his balance and put himself between the Anck-Su-Namun, the two advancing warriors and Meirionnydd.He need not have worried about Anck-Su-Namun.She turned and left the room, disappearing into the darkened hallway and leaving him to face the two serpent headed warriors.

**

She roused herself from where she had fallen hard against the wall, stunning herself for a time, and touched her hand to her head.It ached, but her heart ached more.

_Even the girl._

So that was it?Because of the clothes in which Anck-Su-Namun had dressed her… the mark she'd given her through a pain so bad she still felt sick with the thought of it… he would cast her side, and even take her life.

_Even the girl._

She looked up in time to see the creature he was fighting explode in a shower of sand that coated the floor of the chamber.

"Meiri, we have to go," he turned and started walking toward her.Unsure, she skittered back until she was hard against the wall.

"Don't!" she felt the tears rising in her eyes at the fear and loss."Don't touch me!"

"Meirionnydd," he looked confused as he crouched nearby, and then lowered himself carefully to his knees, to reach for her gauze covered shoulders.She tried to back away still further but couldn't move.

As his hands closed gently around her arms she sobbed, "Don't… touch me!"

"Meiri, listen to me," she hardly fought him, didn't really want to as he eased her forward to rest her head against his chest.His hand travelled along the length of her arm to find her wrist… her left wrist that still ached with the aftermath of the supernatural brand that Anck-Su-Namun had placed on her. "I do not understand how this has happened, but I believe we both know that she has told us the truth."

She looked up at him then, tears brimming in her eyes that almost begged him to comprehend that she did not see what difference it should make.That she didn't understand.

"Ardeth, why?" She forced the words from her."I don't… I can't…"

"Hush, Meiri," he said gently, and almost lifted her to her feet.

"Tell me… I don't understand what it means," she pleaded.

She grasped his arms as she felt his breathing falter for a moment, as though he were trying to catch it, to keep it under control.It frightened her, she almost felt him falling away from her.

She freed her left hand from where he was caressing the source of her pain and confusion and reached up to press a caress lightly against his cheek.He leaned into the touch and closed his eyes.

"Meirionnydd, what can I tell you that will make this easier for you?That will keep the pain of it from you?" he asked.

"The truth," she said."What does it mean for _us?"_

He shook his head and gasped, "I cannot!"

"What?"

"Usertim and Medjai… I…"

"So you're sending me away?"she hiccupped."Even though this is my home… though I belong here?"

"You will be safer in London."He almost sounded as though he were in pain at saying the words."Meiri, please understand…"

"But I love you," she sobbed and felt him draw her closer to fit her right against him, to wrap her completely in his warmth and life, but it felt so much like goodbye.

"If matters were otherwise…" he whispered into her hair.

"Ardeth…" she couldn't even find the words to tell him how much this hurt.How lost she was and how frightened at the though of being without him.

"For as long as we have, my sweet angel, I will be all that I can for you." He eased her away and she was shocked to see tears in his eyes, mirroring her own."And you are my life, but we cannot…"

She stood for may long moments in his arms, looking up into his tortured expression of pain and loss – like grief, and felt him gathering himself for the moments ahead, before finally to took her hand from the side of his face.

"We need to leave.I need to take you to safety," he told her and moved away.

She felt cold, but took the torch from him when he handed it to her and gladly took his hand when he offered it. She swallowed hard, realising how foolish it had been to stand talking and crying when they were in such a dangerous place.

As they passed the body of the man outside the doorway she pressed her face against his arm.It was an all too present reminder of that peril as was the moment they entered the darkened corridor and he drew the scimitar with his free hand.

The torch barely seemed to light the darkness there.Meirionnydd almost laughed as the corridor became a metaphor for her heart.They reached to foot of the stairs and he drew her behind him, placed her hand in the sash at the side of his robe so that she could still keep hold of him, almost as though he didn't want to break all contact with her and they slowly the crept up the darkened stairs.

"It is lit from here," he said quietly as they reached the top, carefully took the burning torch from her hand and tossed it back into the stairwell.

"How will we get out?" she whispered, suddenly fearful.

"We will get out.Trust me," he said gently, and she closed her eyes as his fingertips brushed her cheek."I will see you to safely, little one, I promise."

She bit the inside of her cheek.That moment he looked so gentle, so loving and so very beautiful that it was all she could do to stay on her feet.Even knowing what he had said, that now, where before there may have been hope for them, there was none; she couldn't help but feel for him as deeply as ever… perhaps more so as the longing became an almost physical ache.

She knew without a doubt that he would, as he had promised, protect her and ensure her safety, but the pain she saw in his eyes worried her… and who would keep him safe from that?

"Come," he said and drew her out of her mournful contemplation.

He led her toward a doorway that should have led to another staircase, but the top several steps were missing.He lowered himself to the broken top of the platform and turned around to reach up for her hand help her down.

Shivers of warning broke over her spine like deadly waves. And just as their fingers touched she snatched her hand away.

"What is it?" he asked.

_He lifted her down from a high ledge.She virtually fell into his arms and for a moment he held her close, kissing her forehead._

"I… erm…" she stuttered and swallowed hard."I think I can get down by myself."

"Meiri, there is not _time for this," he said urgently and gave her a pained look."I do not know how long Anck-Su-Namun will wait before she returns to learn of my fate and yours."_

"I need to do this," she said, he voice barely above a whisper.She would not let him lift her down and then everything would be all right.He would be safe and her dream just a dream.

He sighed."All right, but hurry."

She crept to the edge and looked down.It was not a long drop – only just above the top of Ardeth's head, but looking down, and with the stairs below as well the impression of height was much more.Trembling she sat down, dangling her legs over the side.

"No," he told her."Turn around and hang by your arms and then drop.The fall is much less then."

"Um," she swallowed."Oh, erm…"

"In Allah's name, Meirionnydd let me help you down!"

"No," she said firmly.

Moaning she put both hands on the ledge and turned, sliding off to hang by her arms.It jarred her shoulders.She felt him move closer, to lift her the rest of the way, but dropped before his hands could find her waist.She let out a little cry as her feet hit the uneven surface on the top of the broken stairs and he came to her and took her gently to turn her around and hold her close for a moment.He planted a tender kiss on her forehead.

"This is not the time to prove to me your independence," he said gently and she smiled.

"I just had to," she said."Please accept that."

Relief flooded through her as he nodded, took her hand and once again drew his scimitar.It was a profound relief… one born of knowing that in that simple act, of breaking the dream and changing the course of things, she had been able to save his life.She smiled.

**

He saw her smile and a sense of peace seemed to come over her in that moment.He returned the smile faintly and pushed back some few strands of her hair that had strayed across her face as she all but fell from the doorway above.He wanted to kiss her so much it turned him inside out, and dressed as she was, so painfully beautiful… He felt a flush of anger toward Anck-Su-Namun for all that she'd done.

She must have felt the tension that crept into his muscles because she began to pull away.He sighed.He was not being fair, to tell her again that there was never to be anything between them, and then to behave in such a way.He made a silent promise to himself that once he had her to safety, he would at least explain to her the reasons why.

"We should go on," he said.

"Yes," she agreed.

Moving cautiously as ever, he led her toward the stairs that would take them closer to their escape.They mounted the stairs together, and soon reached the apex.Quickly his eyes scanned left and right and he wondered about taking one or other of the staircases.He still had not found Jonathan.Perhaps he had been wrong.Perhaps Jonathan was being held in the camp itself, highly likely since it was Meirionnydd that Anck-Su-Namun had needed.Jonathan he suspected had merely been taken as a means to ensure that she was not followed from the shrine.

It might have worked too, but for the fact that the Medjai already knew of all of the digs currently undertaken in their territory, and that the traitorous curator had unwittingly led them to the site several weeks before any of the current events began.

"Just down those steps," he said.His voice was barely above a whisper."Stay close to the wall and be ready to stop at once if I say."

"All right." He noticed the way her voice trembled and reached out to caress her shoulder briefly.

"It will be the hardest part, you are right to be nervous, but I have promised… I will see you to safety, not matter what.Just stay close by."He took a deep breath and then slowly began the decent to the first landing where he hand encountered the guards.

He sighed.He couldn't just walk down the stairs and expect there to be no-one outside.He would be remiss if he did not check, but he could not leave Meiri alone – not without knowing what was at the top of the other two staircases.He shook his head.He had no choice but to continue on… to hope that they would be able to leave as un-noticed as he was on the way in.

Moving swiftly across the small landing and past the alcove opposite to the one when he had hidden the unconscious bodies of the guards, he drew her with him swiftly down the staircase, thankfully in deeper shadow now that the sun had moved across the sky.Had it really taken him that long to find her?

"Ardeth?"

Tense as he was he almost tripped as the familiar voice sounded behind him.He pushed Meirionnydd against the wall.

"Stay here," he said.

Turning, he saw a familiar light brown head peering timidly from within the alcove.

"Jonathan," he greeted the man with some relief.

"Ardeth, old boy, am I glad to see you!" Jonathan came out of the alcove them, smiling widely, but still looking more than a little shaken."There are these… things wandering around."

Ardeth smiled a Jonathan waved his arms vaguely, trying to let his hands describe the creatures where his words had failed to find a name for them.

"Hundreds of them," Jonathan finished as he came back up the starts toward him.

"I think you exaggerate, my friend," he said."My people will have taken many of them out of the camp.We will be safe, you need not worry.Come."

"No, really," Jonathan told him."You have no idea how long I've been trying to find the way out of here before I found that little hole, or how bloody glad I am to see you."

The smaller man threw a brotherly hug around him, surprising him.He chuckled slightly and said, "I do.You said alrea…"

At first he thought that Jonathan had punched him in the stomach, but the truth dawned quickly as the burning, searing pain began spreading upward from where the contact had been.He felt himself pulled closer by the strong arms around him, and the pain worsened as Jonathan turned his hand, and twisted the knife.

"Jonathan?" he gasped.

"Now all is as it should be, First Medjai." The voice that came from Jonathan's lips was not that of the gentle Englishman that had saved his life in Ahm Shere.

Ardeth shuddered as Ancient Egyptian poured from Jonathan's lips and bit back a cry of pain as the knife was pulled free.How?How could this be?His heart contracted in another pain, this time from panic and the certainty that Jonathan was not the only friend he had lost.

He had been a fool, arrogant and careless; heedless of all the signs that must have been around him all the time._Evelyn… he could barely even think her name, let alone force it from his lips.Now it was even more vital that he get Meirionnydd to safety… for if Suti were already incarnate – which must mean that Anck-Su-Namun had the seventh bell the whole of the time she was taunting him… then Meirionnydd, as the only living Priestess of Usert would be the only one to oppose Her eternal brother and enemy._

"Meiri, go!" he managed to call a warning to her, and somehow draw a blade at the same time, ignoring his pain.Jonathan finally let him go and he stumbled back slightly, then finding his balance and holding his blade outstretched between them started to back down the stairs.

"Ardeth?" she questioned as he reached her side.

"Just go," he said, trying to keep his voice as steady as possible."We need to leave now."

"But your friend," she said.

"Is no longer my friend," he took a deep breath and held in the grimace of pain."Please, Meiri."

Still the thing that was Jonathan made no move toward them and fearing that he might not get another chance to take her to safety, he turned and took Meiri's hand to lead her the rest of the way down the stairs.

"What is it… what's wrong?" she sounded terrified… how could he tell her?

"We must return to the Medjai and get back to O'Connell," he told her, pushing her into the shadow of the doorway."For I fear we have failed." 

**

The flight to where Ardeth had left the horses had been terrifying and tortuous.They dodged bullets and he had to cut down more people than Meiri had ever imagined would fall in a single battle, but somehow he had got them to the horses, and she was barely in the saddle before he slapped her horse's rump and the two of them were riding off at speed.

She had no idea how long they had been riding before he leaned over to take her reins and pull her horse up with his to a walking pace.

"Meiri, forgive me," he said, and there was a strange catch in his voice."That was not the rescue I had foreseen."

"What happened back there?" she asked.Fear cramped her heart as she saw him lean forward on the saddle horn and take a deep breath, which he let out unevenly."Ardeth?Are you hurt?"

"A little," he said.

"Let me see," she tried to guide the horse closer, so that she could lean over and see where he was hurt, but he shook his head.

"When we get to the camp," he told her."We cannot risk staying here long.They may have pursued."

"But if you're hurt…"

"I told you," he snapped."It is nothing.I have suffered worse injuries than this!"

She watched the stiff way he sat up from where he was leaning against his saddle and doubted that he was telling the truth, but still… it had nothing of the familiarity of her dream… so she took his word and repeated her former question.

"I can only make a guess," he said, handing her the water skin from which he had been drinking."But I believe that the shrine has been attacked again and the seventh bell taken from Evelyn."

She did not miss the note of anguish in his voice at the thought that something bad had happened to another of his friends.

"And Anck-Su-Namun used it to do something to your other friend, to Jonathan?" she asked.

He nodded and said, "Are you able to ride again?I need to get to the meeting place send riders back to check on my friends."

"This is bad isn't it?" she found herself growing suddenly cold all over her body at both the look in his eyes and the tone of his voice.She tried hard not to imagine all the things that might happen in the face of Anck-Su-Namun's evil, but she had seen too much in her visions to be able to shut out the possibilities now.

"Worse than you could ever image, hayati," he said and turned a tearful look her way.He took her hand and briefly raised it to his lips before setting a brisk pace toward where he had said they would meet the other Medjai.

**

The pain was overwhelming and he had no idea how he was still able to stay in the saddle.He could barely breathe and felt he was suffocating inside the covering on his face.He reached up a hand to pull it down, and moaned when he saw that his hand, which had been pressed against his side, was covered in his blood.He tugged at his robes and found they too were wet and sticky with it.

"Meiri, I am sorry," he breathed, never intending her to hear."They were right… the Elders were right."

He stilled his mind and let the words of the Shahadah flow into it.He whispered them to himself as they approached the oasis where the Medjai were camped.At least he had been able to get her back this far.

Relief flooded him as the horses came to a stop… now she would be safe.He swung his leg over the neck of his horse and slid more than a little gracelessly to the ground.The jolt sent new waves of pain through him, and he felt nausea creeping up to bite at his ears and he was forced to grip tightly to the saddle and lean his head against his horse's neck to wait out the pain that stole every conscious thought he ever had.

"Ardeth, you're hurt." Meiri's voice roused him and he raised his head, willing his eyes to be clearer than he knew they would be.He might have laughed at the irony of it, but for the pain, for once something that was written had turned out to be the truth.

"It is nothing," he said faintly."Just a scratch.Let me get you down from there."

He walked as best he could to the side of Meiri's horse leaning on Marhana to give him the extra strength he needed.His horse sidestepped – no doubt smelling the blood on him.He held up his hands to grasp her waist.He meant to lift her down, but he simply didn't have the strength, and she all but fell against him.

The world tilted… began to spin and he grasped onto her, trying to stop himself from falling… but everything was fading…

**

She expected the slide from the horse to be smooth as it always was, so when he all but let her fall, she knew at once that there was something terribly, dreadfully wrong.He grasped for her suddenly and stumbled.She caught him automatically, her arm sliding around his waist.

Wet.

There was something wet against her arm and hand.She pulled it away to look at it.Panic knotted in her heart and her stomach felt as though it was falling from her toward the sand.His blood was everywhere, soaking his robes.Urgently she called toward the camp for help and became vaguely aware of black robed figures running toward them.

"Meiri…" he whispered, and sounded so far away.

"Don't Ardeth, please," she fought with tears and failed to hold them back.

As they walked toward the running figures he stumbled again and she tried to help him. He fell against her, his strength finally failing.She tried to hold him up, but she was much smaller and slighter than he was and the two of them fell to the sand.

"Ardeth, look at me," she commanded, her voice shaking as she dragged herself to her knees at his side."Don't close your eyes!"

Tears flowed freely from her eyes when his fluttered closed.She brushed her fingers over his face and he opened them again, looking up at her – regret and apology in his expression.

"Do not…" he whispered, raising a bloodstained hand to try and catch the tears rolling down her cheek.

"Ardeth, no," she moaned.

"I am… sorry," he sighed, and lost the fight for consciousness.

His hand never made it to catch her tears, but fell against the side of her face, where she cradled it to her cheek.The Medjai finally reached their fallen leader and she felt arms lift her away from beside Ardeth as they knelt beside him.One of the men looked back up at Rashid as he held her.Meirionnydd felt as though her heart had shattered into a million tiny pieces at the look that passed between them.She started to get back to his side."Ardeth…?ARDETH!"


	13. Whatever WIll We Tell Alex?

Power Is

(Authors Note:The Prayer spoken in this chapter and other excerpts from the "Book of the Dead" (the real one), appear without permission and have been edited and adapted to fit within the reality of the story.No copyright infringement intended.)

Chapter 13 

She growled in frustration as she ran the tip of the bristles over the point at which the text became unreadable,

"If I ever get my hands on the person that did this, I'll strangle them!" she finally threw down the brush and sat back on her bottom in frustration.

"If you ever meet the person that did that," Rick made her jump, coming up behind her and handing her a cup of tea over the top of her shoulder, "then we're leaving"

She turned and leaned on the offending wall as he squatted down with his back to the structure in the centre of the shrine.

"Oh you!" she gave him a mock annoyed look and took a sip of the tea."Thank you, this is just want I needed."

"So what's the problem?" he asked and gestured to the wall behind her.

"Vital pieces of the text have been destroyed.I can guess at what it might have said, but I don't think that will be good enough."She sighed."Ardeth is going to need a proper translation.It's absolutely criminal what someone did to this wall!"

"Getting angry isn't going to help, baby," he reached over and took her hand.She spent some moments lost in the feel of his fingers caressing hers before looking up into his blue eyes.They were sorrowful and lost; the look he always got when he was worrying.

"You're as worried as I am," she accused softly.He just nodded, further proving to her that she was correct.If he wasn't, he would have cracked a joke about it.

"They've been gone too long," he said after a much extended silence.

He took her empty teacup and set it with his own on top of the chamber's small dais.She took that as he cue to resume her work.She would have to work around the missing text and hope to fill in the gaps later.Wearily she climbed to her feet, and for a few moments watched as Rick walked carefully around the walls and various bits of paper that graced the floor, obviously trying to get a idea of what she was doing.

"Is any of it making any more sense?" he asked quietly as he looked over the unfolding text.

She sighed."There are still too many obscure references for me to even begin to _understand what it mean," she said."But at least it reads as though it __should make sense… at least to someone with a deeper religious knowledge than mine."_

"Like who?" he asked.

"Whom," she corrected absently, without looking up from the section of wall she was busy transcribing."I don't know.I think even the Bembridge Scholars would struggle with some of this."

"Oh," he said, and she got a sense for a moment that if she had named someone that could have helped he would probably have sent the Medjai that Ardeth left with them riding quickly to fetch them, from wherever they happened to be.

Hours passed, and she could feel Rick getting more agitated and that made her feel increasingly frustrated with her lack of progress, or understanding of the text that she could read.She glanced over at him as he frowned his way through the discoveries she had made so far.

A small change in the sound from outside the shrine broke the tension somewhat and she saw him look up as two Medjai warriors entered the chamber.Her stomach turned a somersault and her own brow creased into a frown.

They were not dressed in their desert robes, but ceremonial ones and they wore no weapons about their person, except for small silver daggers tucked into their black sashes.The walked over to Rick who looked up and smiled at them, greeting them cheerfully.

One of the Medjai said something that she didn't hear.He spoke so quietly.Rick's smile faded.He staggered back against the wall of the shrine, making a sound as though he had just been kicked in the gut.She saw him clutch at the wall for support, dislodging many of the bits of paper she had placed there as markers.But the look he gave her, when he looked over to meet her gaze, made it unimportant.His eyes were full of tears.

"Rick, what is it?What's wrong?"She went to him, having to force her legs to carry her across the small distance.Seeing her husband like that she knew it was something very bad.Dear God, was it Jonathan?He took her by the arms and pulled her close for a moment, planting a kiss on her forehead.

"We gotta go, Evie," he said, barely managing to get the words out.

"But Rick, I can't go… I have all this work to do."She swept her arm around to indicate the pieces of paper strewn across the floor."Ardeth is counting on me to get all this translated and…"

At the mention of Ardeth's name, Rick let out a small sound that she thought was a sob."Evie," her name whined out of his throat rather than from his lips."We have to go…"

"What's happened to Ardeth?" she said.

"He's gone, Evie."

"Gone… why, he can't have gone he…"

"Ardeth's gone," Rick whispered.

Understanding crept over Evie and she started to tremble.

"No, he…" she looked over at the two Medjai still standing stoically beside her grieving husband.One of them bowed slightly.

"The First Medjai is dead, my Lady.May Allah rest his soul." He confirmed."He died this morning.It was a very bad wound and there was nothing to be done."

"Ardeth," Evie's eyes filled with tears, her bottom lip trembled and her shaking increased tenfold and she tried not to let out the sob she was holding inside.Rick drew her closer and she pressed her head against his chest.His breathing was as ragged as hers.

"Whatever will we tell Alex?"she sobbed and broke down completely.

She barely felt the touch of the Medjai's hand on her shoulder, nor heard his soft spoken words, "Truly to Allah we belong, and truly to Him we shall return."He paused for a heartbeat."Come, they are waiting for you."

**

All night and all day she had paced the floor of the tent, and had only slept the second night when exhaustion claimed her.There were guards at her door and she felt like a prisoner, not the guest that Rashid had assured her she was.

He had found her a robe to wear, to cover the outrageously revealing clothes she had been given by Anck-Su-Namun, but since then no one had been to visit – to tell her how Ardeth was and whenever she asked the guards at her door said, "We are doing all we can, Lady."

She spun round to face the doorway as someone came in to find Rashid and Ghalib standing looking solemn just inside the tent.

"Rashid, how…" she said, but stopped when he crossed the room and took her gently by the shoulders.It was only then she noticed he had changed from his desert robes into something more ceremonial – the normally unrelieved black, edged in silver.They were far more formal."What?"

Her voice had trembled and already feeling weak and shaky she gripped his sleeves.

"I am sorry, Meiri," he murmured.His voice was soft, careful and so gentle that for a moment she started to relax, but then her mind replayed the actual words he'd spoken.

"No," she breathed, and started trying to push him away, but his grip was too strong.

"Meirionnydd, listen to me!" he commanded.

"He can't… he said he was all right, he said…"

"Listen to me!"He shook her slightly and she looked up at him, tears brimming in her eyes."The healers worked all night and all day to try and save him, but already, by the time you arrived, it was too late.There was nothing to be done.I am sorry."

A white hot buzzing started in the pit of her stomach and blossomed outward, like the flower of some binding weed to steal the breath from her lungs and the strength from her limbs.She tightened her grip on Rashid's arms, aware that her legs were not as solid as they should be.

"I should have been with him," she whispered, but Rashid shook his head.

"There was nothing you could have done.He would not even have known you were there." He moved his arms to support her more fully.

"When…?"She found her voice at last, but it sounded distant and high in pitch, not truly her voice at all."When did he die?"

She sobbed on the edge of the question and felt Rashid move at last to give her the comfort she needed.She trembled against him, holding him tightly as though he could keep the truth from her.

"Just before dawn," he said.

She did not know how long she wept, only that she did and that her eyes were sore and her chest ached from it.But she still was full of the desolate sense of loss and pain, and anger and helplessness.

"I want to see him." she said numbly from that dark, cold place.Rashid had lead her to the skins and she lay curled up on her side.She sat up."I _need to see him."_

"Karida will bring you to him when she and her family are done." Rashid, still beside her, told her softly.

"Karida?"Meiri wiped a hand across her face.

"When we saw the extent of his injuries that first night," Rashid did not look at her as he spoke.His tone was one of confession."We sent for the First Tribe to be here.They arrived a little while ago.Karida was his sister."

**

Light… he drifted up out of the darkness toward the light and snatched in a huge breath as though it had been weeks since his lungs last had any air.Panic still gripped his heart and his head pounded with the thunder of a dozen storms.

Noisily he gasped for air again, the pressure still pushing on his chest.Trembling, he looked down at his hand – his right hand.

"Oh dear… God, no!" he moaned, his hand red-brown with the dried blood that covered it.The blood of his dear friend.In vain he tried to clean it on the floor of the chamber he was in._Why didn't I fight it!_

He looked at his hand again.The evidence was still there, caked into the lines on his palm and around his knuckles._The firm spring, resistance against the blade and the hot flow over his hand…He barely made it to the corner of the chamber before he heaved and emptied the meagre contents of his stomach onto the stone floor._

"Ardeth," he gasped as he crawled away.

Leaning against the cool marble of a statue he closed his eyes and tried to find a way through the nightmare, to banish the memory.Shaking his hands crept up to the necklace… it was that, he knew it was that.

He closed his finger around the triangular gold and obsidian pendant and at once pain seared through his hand and through his mind.He cried out, a wordless cry of primeval agony.His hand fell away from the charm and clasped his head as he fell to a foetal ball against the cold stone floor, to lie there weeping.

"They told me you were back in the land of the living," Anck-Su-Namun said, sweeping into the chamber.She came to stand over him.

"Get away from me!" he said in an anguished voice and pulled himself upright, back against the statue.

Instead she crouched beside him and ran an almost gentle finger around his tear wet cheek."My poor Jonathan," she purred.

"I said get away from me!" he pushed her, lacking any real strength in his current state and she caught his hand.

"I think congratulations are in order."Before he could stop her she raised the palm of his right hand to her mouth and lapped a furtive tongue against the evidence of his terrible crime."It's not every man that can claim to have killed the First Medjai."

With another anguished cry he snatched back his hand and used the statue as a brace to help him claw his way to his feet._Killed the First Medjai… Killed Ardeth!The accusation rang in his mind, making him feel sick once more and he staggered away from Anck-Su-Namun._

"He was my friend!"he said, almost pleading with her to understand his pain."My friend and…" he turned away from her, not wanting her to see the way he pressed his hands to the front of his chest where the pain had centred.

"Oh Jonathan?" she called to him.

He turned, and instinctively caught the object she threw.With an almost girlish cry he dropped it immediately – a three pronged knife – coated with blood that fell to the floor with a ringing sound.

"Don't worry," Anck-Su-Namun said in an almost sing song voice."That feeling will go away… and soon now.You'll belong to Suti, and then…"

"You can make me… _me – Jonathan Carnahan – do __nothing!"he said desperately."When that __thing takes over me, it isn't me!"_

"But it is, my pet," she said and stalked toward him."You and _far more than could ever be."_

"No!" he pressed his hands over his ears, "It isn't me."

He flinched as she trailed her hand over the front of his chest and disturbed the source of his woes.

"Pick up the knife, Jonathan," she leaned in close to whisper into his ear."I have a little job for you."

"I won't…"

"Oh but you will," she said."Har-ya Suti…"

"No," he moaned.

"Har-ya Suti…"

This time he did not hear the third summoning phrase._Har-ya Suti_

**

The hand in hers that led her towards the yawning chasm that was the doorway of the tent was cold.She had seen this moment so many times in dreams and visions, but she never got beyond the doorway that loomed before her.

"Please," the woman beside her spoke with the same soft accent as the man that had been her brother. She too was weeping. "You need to say goodbye."

Ardeth's sister pushed her into the dim lit tent.She turned back in time to see Karida find solace in the arms of the man she was to marry.Tarek held her gently against his chest.His eyes too were haunted and afraid, as were those of most of the Medjai that she had seen.He nodded to her, indicating that she must attend to her goodbyes.

The air inside was dry and smelled of the oils they had used to preserve the body, sweet and clean.His eyes were closed and he looked as though he were just sleeping.

He looked so beautiful it made her ache to know that he would never now be a part of her life.She felt empty… hollow.She felt a part of her was missing.She reached for his cold hand and traced the shape of his tattoo.He was all she could see.Everything felt a million miles away.

"Why do I feel this way?" she sobbed and pressed a hand against her chest as though her own heart had stopped beating.There had been so little between them.No private tenderness of word or deed, beyond what was proper… except for one small, fleeing moment."Why did you leave?"

She fell to her knees beside the low bier on which he lay and put her head onto his chest.The silence was deafening where there should have been a heartbeat, and she filled that silence with wracking sobs that shook them both.

**

"O'Connell."

Rick turned from helping Evie down from the horse as the Medjai approached and greeted him formally, grasping his arm in a brotherly handshake.

"Rashid, what the hell happened?" he asked.

He saw the Medjai glance toward Evie as they began to walk toward the middle of the camp, where a ring of warriors stood in readiness to defend the canvas structure at their centre.

"Perhaps later," Rashid said.

He saw Evie reach over and put a hand on the man's arm.He couldn't imagine what would be so terrible that he would not want to speak of it in front of a woman.It was bad enough that Ardeth was dead.

"I appreciate your concern, Rashid, but I have a son, and I'm sure that there is nothing you could tell me that would be more gory or bloody than childbirth."She nodded her head and fixed him with eyes that were still red from her tears."Please, answer Rick's question."

"It was a stomach wound." Rashid shrugged his shoulders at Evie's comments."By the time he returned to us there was nothing that could be done to save him, though of course the healers tried."

"Sure," he put his hand onto the warrior's shoulder.It was mean to be a comforting gesture but it felt empty and hollow.

"He was our First Medjai, O'Connell and he died without a son, and without naming an heir."Rick turned his gaze to follow Rashid's as he looked on the assembled gathering of Medjai."They are afraid and do not know what to do."

"Looks like you got a hell of a lot of people here," he said.

"A small number of warriors from each of the twelve tribes had already been summoned, and as soon as we saw how badly hurt he was we sent for his own tribe as we felt they should be here, so that his family could be here."Rashid confirmed."In view of what has happened…"

"What _did happen?" Evie asked the question before he could get it from his own lips and once again Rashid glanced toward her.This time he swallowed hard before making any attempt to answer._

"I have spoken with Meirionnydd," Rashid began.Rick could tell he was speaking as dispassionately as he could – just delivering the facts as he had heard them. "And she said that as they left the Temple of the Gods they found his friend.The two embraced and she believes that is when the wound occurred.She was right beside him for the rest of their escape from the camp and although he battled many opponents to get them to safety, she is sure that he was not injured in any of the fights."

"His friend?" Rick asked cautiously.He was sure he already knew to whom Rashid was referring and was holding back his astonishment and disbelieving concern until his suspicions were confirmed.He did however take hold of Evie's hand.Rashid's eyes flicked toward his wife.She did not miss it.

"Jonathan?" she squeaked."Are you telling me she accused my brother of killing Ardeth?"

"Evie…"

"No I will not be quiet!" she raised her voice even more, drawing more than a few gazes their way.Then she started crying again and pointed a hand toward the tent."One of my best ever friends is lying dead and this _gentleman is suggesting that my brother is a murderer…"_

"Mrs. O'Connell." Rashid stopped walking and turned to face her.

Rick stopped too.In spite of trying to stop her from making quite as much of a spectacle of herself he actually understood where she was coming from.He folded his arms around her and felt her lean back into him.

"If you would allow me to finish," the Medjai continued unruffled by her outburst."Meiri said that when she questioned Ardeth as to why they would leave behind your brother his answer was to tell her that he was no longer who he appeared, and then to fear for _your safety."_

"My safety?" Evie sniffed and Rick tightened his arms around her, leaning down to kiss the top of her head.

"Yes," Rashid said."For the Witch to have so possessed your brother, he believed you to have been attacked at the shrine and the _seventh bell taken from you?"_

Rick felt Evie move her hands to press just beneath when he rested his arms."Ardeth gave one of the bells from the Sistrum of Usert into my safekeeping just after we left Cairo," she explained.

Rick watched as Rashid closed his eyes for a moment and tilted his head down toward the sand, before he completely his tale.

"In hurrying to return to us and ensure both the care of his Lady and your own wellbeing he neglected the injuries to himself until it was too late.I believe he knew he was dying."

"Oh so now it's _my fault!" Evie let out another sob._

"Evie…" Rick tried to soothe her, understanding how upset she was, because he felt just the same.

"No one is at fault or to blame, Evelyn O'Connell," A very heavily accented voice interrupted.Rick, as Evie and Rashid turned to face the newcomer.An ancient looking Medjai slightly stooped and with short cropped white hair and a full, evenly trimmed beard.In spite of his obviously advanced years, he still looked as though he would likely break the bones of most ordinary men."Our First Medjai has known for many days that he would not survive this journey… for this apocalypse has been written since before the time of our ancestors and it was revealed to him when he came to us for guidance."

Rick bristled._This must have been the fear that Evie had spoken of when she was talking about Ardeth a few nights before._

"You _told the guy that he was going to __die?" he asked incredulously.He could tell the answer from the old Medjai's face."Of all the stupid, irresponsible…"_

He took a step toward the man and Rashid stepped in closer, one hand in the centre of his chest and the other on the hilt of his blade.

"La, Rashid."The old man raised his hand and Rashid stepped back."Let him say what he must."

"You ever heard of a self fulfilling prophesy?" Rick spat.

"Rick…" Evie tried to calm him but he was not in the mood to be rational.

"You told him he was going to die, put the fear of God in the man and he started making mistakes, but he probably thought, "what the hell, I'm going to die anyway."I thought you guys were supposed to be…"

"Rick O'Connell," a woman's soft voice broke in on his tirade"Is this how you would honour my brother's memory?"

He turned his head and watched as she walked slowly toward them, supported by Tarek.Both Rashid and the Medjai Elder stepped back.She was so like Ardeth it was uncanny.Her long raven hair fell in curls around her face.Her eyes and nose and lips bore the same shape.She was completely unadorned with make up of any kind, and while she wore a veil, she did not have it raised.

"First Medjai, you should be resting." The Elder greeted her respectfully and Rick did a double take.This _woman was their leader now?She must have understood his expression because she said quietly._

"I am the last surviving child of Kareem Bay, First Medjai before my brother, Ardeth.Since he died without an heir I must assume that responsibility until a son is born to me and comes of age."As she got closer, Rick could see her eyes were red from weeping. "We are all of us upset by our loss.But careless, angry words now will not ease the pain of the present or the uncertainty of the future."

She even sounded like Ardeth.He sighed, heavily and reached for Evie's hand.

"I'm sorry, just…"

"I understand O'Connell," she said."My brother spoke very highly of you, of both of you."She turned to a little to include Evie in their conversation."He made it clear that if anything ever happened to him then you should be contacted at once and that we have done, but please do him not dishonour him now by fighting over what cannot be changed."

"Would it be possible for us to see him?" Evie asked, tugging on Rick's hand in the way he knew meant that she wanted him to be quiet, to drop the subject.

"Of course," the woman said."You also must make your goodbyes."

"And we must talk, O'Connell," the Elder added.

Rick smiled thinly and said, "I'd rather see my friend."

**

Evie took a deep breath as she walked in through the door between her husband and Rashid.She felt more sick than ever as she laid eyes on the partly covered body._No she corrected herself, __not a body… this is Ardeth… my friend._

Until that moment she could convince herself that it was all some terrible dream.That she had fallen asleep trying to translate the text on the wall and she would wake up and he would be standing there with eyebrow raised at her choice of places to sleep.

But now…

She crept closer and then reached behind her for Rick's hand, never once taking her eyes off Ardeth.His eyes were closed, his face serene – but pale, almost grey.Lifeless.

"Oh God, Rick…" she breathed.He came to her side, wrapped his arm around her shoulder and kissed her forehead."It's real… he's really gone."

"I know, baby," he said.And in his eyes she saw the terrible emotion he was holding inside.

"But he was so young… and strong… he…"

"Evie, stop," Rick turned her away and wrapped her in his arms."Please.He was right… we need to be the hell away from here!"

"Rick!"She protested and pulled out of his arms."This man helped to save our son's life.We can't just walk away now."

She reached out a hand to Ardeth's cold flesh and ran a gentle brush of her fingers across the Eye of Horus at the top of his arm.It drew her eyes to the centre of his chest, where the hawk's head turned and facing his left shoulder was watched over by the spreading wings, like those often seen on images of Isis.She had never seen the tattoos that graced his chest and upper arms, and didn't suppose she ever would have but for this dreadful accident… she would never have expected such a gentle image on the body of such a proud strong warrior. Her breath caught sharply in a half sob.

"Evie, what?"Rick turned her away from Ardeth again. "You think I'm just going to walk away?"Looking into his eyes she saw a determined fire burning there, making his normally soft blue orbs seem like ice.

She reached up gently and touched Rick's face."I know you won't," she said.

**

_What strange rituals they had, these people._

__

_He drifted unseen through the encampment at the oasis, staring into the faces of the Medjai guards around the central structure.He saw their fear, the uncertainty.Like looking into the faces of the Medjai in his own time at the death of their Pharaoh._

__

_Oh they had tried to appear calm and fiercely angry when they came to Hamunaptra; when they had burst in upon his rite and prevented him from returning to life the one woman that had ever moved his heart.He refused now to even allow himself the thought of her name.They had tried to appear strong, but even then, there had been fear in the eyes of their leader as he announced the new Pharaoh's decree._

__

_Hom Dai._

__

_At the time it had been the worst thing he could have imagined… but since… he had come to think of it as his greatest gift._

__

_Closing his ethereal eyes, he willed himself inside._

__

_He had watched her go in… weeping.She was weeping still and he wondered at the person that could inspire such sorrow in one so young.As High Priest he had seen sorrow before, but like this was rare, except in those who had been together for the whole of their lives._

__

_He moved his eyes from her face to the body of the man whose lifeless hand she held pressed against her breast, and strangely felt a pang of sorrow as his eyes beheld the tattooed face of the Medjai that had been in part instrumental in returning him to the sleep of undeath.He had been a worthy opponent…_

__

_He turned his head onto one side to regard the tear streaked face of the young woman.It was the first time he had seen her properly, though he had recognised her at once.She was so like her ancestor.Asru… daughter… He wondered if ever Isetnophret knew of her paternity… if it would have mattered to her at all… that a Priestess of Usert should have been fathered by an Osirian High Priest._

__

_"For your sake…"He drifted to the head of the bier on which the Medjai's body lay and raised his arms slightly to either side of the corpse's head, he leaned down to whisper the words of the funeral prayers."Homage to thee, O thou who dwellest in Set-Tchesert of Amentet!The Asar Saa, the royal scribe, Nekhtu-Amen, whose word is true, knoweth thee, he knoweth thy name,"_

__

_He glanced momentarily toward the woman – had she heard his soft ethereal prayers of protection on this, his respected enemy?_

__

_His words did not falter, "Let the order for his protection be the first command of Asar Saa, the Lord to the Uttermost Limit, who keepeth his body hidden.May he give him release from the Terrible One who dwelleth at the bend of the __River__ of __Amentet__, and may he decree the acts that will make him to rise up. Let him pass on to him whose throne is placed within the darkness, who giveth light in Ra-stau."_

__

_"I kn hr iw… hw ahr iw?"She spoke to him with words and not the power of her mind.She looked almost directly at him.He could not understand the words, but knew their tone was one of question._

__

_He could not answer, but continued on with his prayer for the dead._

__

_"Let the Great God who dwelleth in Tetu, and who is himself unseen, hear his prayers, and let those who cause afflictions hold him in fear as he cometh forth with the sentence of their doom to the Divine Block. I the Asar Saa, the royal scribe, Nekhtu-Amen, come, bearing the decree of Neb-er-tcher, and I am the Horus who taketh possession of his throne for him. His father, the lord of all those who are in the Boat of his Father Horus, hath ascribed praise unto him."_

__

_She rose to her feet, and he almost faltered as the dark robe she wore fell open and revealed to him the dress of the Usertim upon her.He wanted to raise up her hand to look at the sign upon her flesh… but could not touch the world of the living._

__

_"He cometh bearing tidings… let him see the town of __Anu__. Their chief shall stand on the earth before him, the scribes shall magnify him at the doors of their assemblies, and they shall swathe him with swathings in Anu."_

__

_"Rshd, Ivln!"She stood at the door, calling out for others.He smiled, secretively, wryly… they would not see him._

__

_"He hath led heaven captive, and he hath seized the earth in his grasp. Neither the heavens nor the earth can be taken away from him, for, behold, he is Ra, the firstborn of the gods. His mother shall nurse him, and shall give him her breast on the horizon."_

__

_He melted into the shadows in the corner of the tent as the others she had called arrived and she turned pointing into the space where moments before he had been.One of them, he recognised, but where was her mate?_

__

_"Nefertiri," he breathed._

**

"There was someone here!"Meiri pointed a hand that was trembling toward the space behind Ardeth's head."There."

"Meiri," Rashid gave her a soft, gentle look."There is no one.You are distraught.Come and rest."

"I'm _not going crazy," she said sharply, appealing silently to Evie to believe what she said.The older woman came to her and drew her into a tender hug._

"No one is suggesting you are," she said."Just that you're tired and upset.We all are.Ardeth was a good friend.A very gentle man… and I can't imagine what it must be like to lose a love like that."

"But he was there," she moaned, but wrapped her arms around the other woman, needing her warmth and comfort."And I've heard him before.I know I have."

"All right," Evie stroked the side of her head."I believe you.What did he look like?"

Meiri stood up straight and saw the look that passed between Rashid and Evie.He was trying to silence her questions.She didn't want to turn to look at the other woman only to find that she was humouring her.

"I," she faltered."I didn't see him, but Evie, I felt him there and I heard him too.He was speaking in some strange language… I don't know."

"Arabic?" Rashid asked almost sounding fearful.

"No." Meiri shook her head."At least not like any I've ever heard you or any of the other's speaking."

"Can you remember anything that he said?"Evie suddenly looked very serious."Rashid, will you go and find Rick?"

"You think there is something in what she says?" he asked.

"I think she believes what she's felt and heard.It might be…"

"Please will you stop talking about me like I'm not here?" she finally snapped."I can't remember what he said.It sounded like a prayer of some kind."

"A man's voice?" Evie asked as they both watched Rashid leave to go and find Rick.

"You sent him away," Meiri sniffed.

Evie nodded and took her by the shoulders, "I know that you see and hear things that others can't and I think the Medjai are worried enough already without talk of supernatural things happening around their chief.The less he hears of it the better."

"You believe me?"

"I believe there's something very serious happening here… something very bad could happen.Ardeth believed that too and it ended up…" Her face creased and Evie stopped talking."Well I think we all know how that ended up."

"He was here, Evie.Speaking…"

"Ancient Egyptian."She looked at Evie in surprise as she finished the sentence for her."But do you remember what he said?"

She shook her head.How could she remember words she had never before heard in her life, that she had not understood?

"Anything at all?"Evie gave her a little shake and, uncomfortable, she moved away.

_Listen…The voice came into her mind.__And speak these words I say…_

"Medewi imitoo necherew imy ew bah ew Ra un shoo, mi pharos."Meiri repeated the words, concentrating hard to make herself remember.

"Oh my God!" Evie's reaction was not as she expected.She ran to the door of the tent and called in a shrill voice for her husband and then for Rashid.She heard the voice in her head again.This time, he was chuckling.

**

Rick turned at the sound of Evie's shrill cry and grabbed Rashid by the sleeve of his robe before the Medjai could respond.They both ran back to the tent.

"Evie," he took her by the arm, turning her one way then another to check she was unharmed, and in the next turned a glance Meiri's way, then Ardeth's, fearing the Medjai warrior might have returned from the dead.He feared that he had somehow become a walking corpse.

All appeared to be well and he frowned in confusion at the utter horror he still saw on Evie's face.

"Imhotep," she stuttered.

"Imhotep?"

"Imhotep, he's here… with Ardeth.Praying over Ardeth!" She grabbed his hand and dragged him back toward the still and silent body of his friend.

"Mrs. O'Connell, what are you talking about?" Rashid took her other arm and turned her away from Ardeth."There is no one here!Are you too so struck with grief that you imagine all kinds of horror…?"

"Rashid, you have to listen to me.I asked Meiri what she heard and she…"Evie faltered and looked down at her arm, gripped in the Medjai's strong grasp.

Rick reached over to remove the Medjai's touch from her arm, giving him a look of steady challenge.

"Sweetheart?" he prompted Evie to go on.

"She looked like she was listening to something and then she started speaking in Ancient Egyptian._I speak for him before the gods, who are in the presence of Ra, my princess she said."Evie rattled off the words so quickly and in such agitation that he had no doubt that she was absolutely certain of what she said._

"Imhotep… here?" Rashid turned around, and Rick almost turned with him, except that he knew that nothing was there.

"There." Meiri pointed to the head of the bier."Praying for Arde…"

"Enough!" A female voice roared from behind them and Rick, as the others turned to see Karida and Tarek standing in the doorway.Her face was a picture of fury that doubted even Ardeth himself could have matched.

She pointed a shaking hand in the direction of both Evie and Meiri as tears began to course down her face.

"Shit!" Rick breathed.

"How _dare you even suggest that He-that-shall-not-be-named desecrates my brother's soul?"She turned a baleful stare on Rashid that kept him in place, before rounding on Rick."You presume too much on the friendship Ardeth showed you!"_

"Just a…" Evie tried to remain calm in the face of the Medjai woman's terrible anger.

"No!" she shouted."No…Get out… all of you."

When no one moved – and Rick had to admit to himself that he was surprised at Rashid's disobedience – she stalked toward Meiri.Rick felt he should do something… that Ardeth wouldn't want this, but he had no idea what to do that would not offend the Medjai, particularly not her fiancé who stood just behind them all, the wrists of both hands resting lightly against the hilts of his blades as he had often seen Ardeth… poised and ready to strike.

"And you," Karida said in a low and dangerous voice, "Little whore!By what right do you sit here, dishonouring him with your wailing when you were _nothing to him and could never __be anything?"_

Meirionnydd recoiled from the venom in her words, tears springing into her eyes as she looked helplessly to Rick and then Rashid for support.

"Medjai Uula," Rashid tried to interrupt and stepped forward, toward Meiri.

Every muscle in Rick's body tensed as Tarek also stepped forward, his hands twitching slightly against his scimitars. The last thing he wanted to do was get caught in a fight between two Medjai warriors, fighting for honour.

"La itkalllim!"Ardeth's sister snapped in Arabic."But for her, he would still be here and we would not be in this position.So get out, all of you!"

"Really," Evie piped up in a tone that Rick had heard many times before.The one she reserved for when she was very cross. "I must protest!"

"You may protest all you wish, Mrs. O'Connell," the woman said, "But you will not come near my brother again.Any of you!"

Rick felt his own temper rising as she spoke to Evie in the same accusative tone she had used with Meiri.But for the two Medjai between her and where he stood he might have turned and drawn her back – to give her a few choice words of his own._Presume too much indeed!But his heart softened somewhat as she moved closer to her brother and ran a soft touch down his arm until she cold reach the linen covering him. He could see the tears still shining in her eyes, and see the way she held her shoulders tensely – as though holding in her grief… he guessed it was not the Medjai way to show that grief overtly._

She pulled up the sheet sharply covering him to the shoulders and lowered herself to the ground beside Ardeth's head.

"See these people out, Rashid," she said, "And then post guards at the door.No one is to come inside."

**

_She saw them, watching… always watching.Did they think she hadn't seen the way they encouraged Anck-Su-Namun in her relationship with Imhotep.The Usertim were watching now… as Imhotep waited for her in her private chamber…_

__

_It was one thing for them to disobey, another entirely for them to be doing so in a place where her father might come in on them… She shuddered at the thought.She should speak, she knew she should… but…_

__

_"Oh Ma'nakhhtuf" she thought.Would he forgive her, were he ever to know what she had done?Her eyes found him as he stood with his fellow Medjai.She could tell he was looking at her, even as she saw Sekhemkare – brave First Medjai – walking down the line toward him._

__

_Something… movement in the chamber opposite drew her eyes back up, to see Imhotep moving back into the shadows.A commotion within and then the drape fell across the window.A feeling of dread crept over her as, from the corner of her eye, she noticed her father's chariot_

__

_"Medjai!"She leaned over the balcony as if, in leaning closer, they would hear her better."My father needs you!"_

__

She moaned in her sleep and a gentle voice murmured into her ear, penetrating the dream and drawing her away from the dreadful moment of Seti's death.

She turned in his arms, and felt them tighten around her, cuddling her closer.

"Evie," he breathed, "It's just a dream."

_Riding…_

__

_She was riding on a horse… not in a chariot… nor a litter but on a horse and her face was wet with tears.Desert and rock flashed past her, and behind… the thundering hooves of other horses, chasing her._

__

_They couldn't catch her… she had to get there… it was more important that ANYTHING she could think of to reach the shrine.She was the only one that knew… the only one.If they caught her before she got to the place then it would all be in vain… Ma'nakhtuf's death… Sekhemkare's death and her hateful marriage to Rameses._

__

_She gripped her hand tightly around the key that would open the inner chamber and reaching the shrine, threw herself from the horse and slapped it's rump to keep it moving and quickly darted inside, to hide in the shadows until the horsemen – Rameses' Medjai – were passed._

__

_She could feel the power.It was throbbing beneath her feet with blatant unashamed rage and pent up frustration.It was Evil._

__

_Her fingers trembled as she fit the key into the lock and turned it.The door slid downward into the floor revealing the gilded chamber within in all its glory.She stepped through as soon as she could.Aware that her time was short and it wouldn't take long for the Medjai to catch the riderless horse and realise what she had done._

__

_She took the heavy sword – Rameses own – from the cloth in which she carried it and approached the far wall, where the chants and spell that were part of the prophesy were written, and she raised the sword.Her anger rose with it.The loss of her child, the loss of her love – all lent power to her arms and she brought the sword down repeatedly against the beautifully carved and gilded wall… destroying the text._

__

_Now even if they DID reassemble the sistrum, for good use or ill, they would never know the words to speak, to make life… and to release the threat that was Suti upon the world._

__

_"Nefertiri, WHAT are you doing?"_

__

_She spun around to find, not the Medjai standing in the doorway of the chamber, but Pharaoh himself._

__

_"There is danger here, Rameses," she said, levelling the sword with the tip pointing toward him."I cannot in my heart leave this place be and know that the women that murdered my father have guarded it all these years… that THIS is the reason they encouraged the Witch in her treason with He-that-shall-not-be-named!"_

__

_"Put up the sword, Tiri," he said almost softly."You have been too long in the sun my heart.Let me…"_

__

_"DO not MOCK me, Pharaoh!" she cried._

__

_"Sire!" The alarmed cries of the Medjai arriving and the ring of their blades clearing the sheaths broke the ensuing silence._

__

_"No!" Rameses stopped them."All is well, my brothers."_

__

_"All is NOT well!" She moaned, and turned again to hack at the wall._

__

_Strong arms clasped hers and pulled the sword from her grasp.They wrapped around her and pulled her away from where she was weeping against the remaining golden text._

__

_"Seal this place, then break the seal," she heard him command."Return Nefertiri to __Thebes__ and send for the surgeon.She is not well, I think."_

__

_"Rameses, please… you have to destroy this place… you have to…"_

__

"Evie… Evie come on wake up!"Rick lifted her to sitting as she came out of the dream.Tears were streaming from her eyes and she was shaking.

"Rick…?" she felt herself drifting, half in one time and half in the next. "I did it."

"What?What are you talking about honey?"

"Me… I did it.I destroyed the text," she looked at him, devastated."To stop anyone from using the power of Usert…I destroyed a priceless piece of Egyptian…"

"Evie…"

"Oh Rick… what have I done?"She clutched at his arms for support."We may never be able to find out how to undo all of this mess that Ardeth died for… and it's all my fault!"

**

_Whore… your fault… would still be here… never seeing him again…_

Words danced in a carousel around her head as she rode, making her dizzy, feeding the nausea inside her.She had no idea where she was going, or what she would do when she got to whatever place she was going, she just knew she had to get away from the suffocating resentment she felt at the oasis.

_"Andy keteer ayeza akolo leek, ya sogheri." The voice was wistful and deep and wrapped her in sensuality._

She sobbed aloud, still hearing his voice in her mind.It was an agony of pain and loss.She spurred her horse on even faster.She'd tried to do right, always.Had resisted so hard.Had resisted seeing, had tried to change what would happen from the vision she'd had, but still he died.

_Arrogant… selfish… hateful…_

Without thinking what she was doing she steered the horse around a rise that she recognised from the desperate flight she and Ardeth had made.She had given the Medjai so much… had told them all they needed to know and then…

Grief's confusion swept over her.If they would not cherish her, she knew at least where she might find appreciation… if not respect.He mind – the logical thinking part of her brain that would have told her it was a crazy idea – shut down completely… and all she had left was the pain.

**

The shouting voices woke him from his light doze.Evie was already awake – in fact he doubted that she'd slept much since the dream… or memory… or whatever the hell it was.

"Stay here," he told her.

"You have got to be kidding," she said, leaping to her feet and pulling on enough clothes to be decent.

He sighed, but knew that if she'd made up her mind to do something then she was going to do it whether he liked it or not.

"All right, but just stay behind me.After Ardeth's sister's little outburst, I'm not sure just how welcome we are here any more."He took her hand and pulled a gun from its holster, though for the first time in as long as he could remember he didn't pull that on.

The camp was in chaos, with hundreds of Medjai all hurrying to saddle horses and gather equipment.Almost dragging Evie through the throng he tried desperately to find Rashid or Mahmoud… Tarek even would do… any of them that spoke English.

He spotted Rashid; he was speaking agitatedly, very quickly in Arabic to several of the older Medjai.He didn't understand much of what they were saying, but one word seemed to be copping up a lot in the animated exchange…"La"the word no.

"What's going on?" he asked, grabbing the man's arm and almost tripping him he spun him so fast.

"O'Connell," Rashid said urgently, as though appealing to him to help."Meiri is missing.Some think that she had gone to lead the Witch to our position.Karida is sure she has betrayed us…"

"What?"Evie, beside him, piped up in horror."There's no _way she'd do that…If you ask me someone needs to put that young lady across their knee…"_

"Evie…" Rick warned, but Rashid reached out and put a hand onto his shoulder.

"She is right, my friend," he said."Karida has allowed her grief to blind her to the truth of the way Meiri felt for her brother, and he for her."He stopped for a moment looking sheepishly at the ground before he added, "It would not surprise me to discover that Karida was the reason Meiri has run.But I am worried…"

"Meiri wasn't thinking straight either," Rick finished the thought."And she might just end up back there without meaning to… getting caught again I mean."He added quickly as Rashid's face darkened.

"Yes," the Medjai nodded."O'Connell, this is insane… if we go in now we have no idea what we are riding into.I cannot make these people see sense – they too are afraid and full of…O'Connell, what are you doing?"

He'd never thought so fast in his entire life.He had to stop this madness and knew without a whisper of doubt that he was the only one that could do that.These Medjai were running into suicide – were going to make Ardeth's death worthless if they ran off now after Meiri.Anck-Su-Namun wouldn't harm her, she needed her… or why would she have taken her in the first place, so while it was urgent that they deal with the threat, it was not something that had to be done without thought or planning.Besides – he had to get Jonathan out and undo whatever it was that had been done to him or things would never be right between him and Evie.

Running to nearest horse he threw himself into the saddle and rode to the top of the dune edging the oasis.Rashid ran on foot after him, as did Evie.At the top of the dune he stopped the horse and pulled his bracer from his wrist.Then pointing his gun at the heavens he fired a single shot.The horse reared, and one handed he fought for balance.It would not help his cause if he came off now.

Almost as one the assembled throng of Medjai stopped what they were doing and turned his way.

"Just stop!" he yelled."Stop and listen to me for a moment."

Beside him, Rashid's voice rang out in Arabic… he guessed that he must be translating, and for that he was glad.He held up his arm with the tattoo displayed toward the men as the horse came down.

"I know you are all concerned… worried… that the Twelve Tribes suffered the most crippling of blows in the loss of your First Medjai, but this isn't the way!"He waited while Rashid translated his bold words and saw from the corner of his eye, a group of the Elders come forward, with Karida at their midst looking as though she could spit daggers any moment in his direction. He did not falter.

"This is not the way if you want to honour his memory and make his death more than an empty wasted gesture.He saved that girl for a reason… a reason that has to do with stopping that walking abomination."Again he paused… feeling the words coming flowing into his agitated mind as Rashid translated.

"And she loved him… loved him and wanted to see him and his people safe.Wanted _you safe… and you want to go charging in like avenging angels to a battlefield you don't know and an enemy you haven't even seen?"He pointed toward them with his tattooed arm."That's __not the behaviour of the Medjai I know and it's __not the course that Ardeth would have had you follow, were he still here."_

Karida took a step forward, shaking off the hand of the elder that moved to restrain her.She would have spoken too, except that Rick held up his hand toward her in a motion that clearly said _stop._

"You go in there now, blind and angry – still hurting and just out for revenge – and most of you won't come out and Anck-Su-Namun would have achieved what countless generations of Tuareg, Bedouin and foreign treasure seekers never could.She will have destroyed the strength of the Medjai."He locked eyes with Karida, almost daring her to interrupt."Ardeth had a plan – and I say we stick to that plan.He wanted the answers from that shrine – that will tell us how to defeat the evil that your ancient enemy is gathering around her.We need information… about the strength and numbers of the warriors we face… and we need to stop worrying about one little girl, whose only crime was to waken the heart of your First Medjai.So I say we wait.Let Evelyn work to translate the words of that shrine…let some few of you go to gather information about our enemy… and let all of us take the moments we need to strength our own hearts, and to use our grief – not to let it rule us."

He paused one more time to let Rashid catch up with the translation.

"Ardeth was a good man.He was my friend – my brother.And in his name I won't let you do this!"

For many long moments after Rashid had finished speaking there was silence, before a low mumbling began as a few among the Medjai warriors began to speak with their neighbours and nobody moved.Rick sat with his eyes locked on the hard stare he was receiving from Karida.

From the back of the large crowd of Medjai the first movement came.The sea of black in front of him parted slowly to allow a lone figure to come toward him.It was Mahmoud.He moved to stand before Rick then reached up to clasp his hand

"Sayiidi," he said softly and moved to stand beside Rashid.

The next to come was Ghalib, then Tayyib and Omran.One by one, each of the surviving members of Ardeth's Chosen Warriors – his own personal band of brothers came to Rick's side.

He turned an almost apologetic look Karida's way as her soon-to-be-husband came to join him, but surprising him, she shook her head and gave a very faint smile.

"My brother was right, to put such faith in you, Rick O'Connell," she said, moving to his side.

From around her neck she took the necklace that Ardeth had always worn in life and beckoned him down until she could slip it over his head.She turned to face the assembled warriors.

"From this moment on, and until Ardeth's heir can be named, this man speaks with the voice and authority of the First Medjai!" she said, first in English, and then Rick assumed in Arabic.

"You chose well, Sayiidi," Rashid said up to him softly."This is Marhana.He was Ardeth's horse."

There was a heartbeat's silence before the assembled warriors acknowledged Rick with a huge roar.Rick swallowed hard – this was not what he had expected – not at all what he had expected.


	14. Unthinkable

Power Is

Chapter 14 

Everything felt so different.It had been urgent before but now it was vital, that she translate the text on the walls of the chamber, not only into something meaningful, but usable also… something that made sense and would show them how to combat the evil they faced.She was uncomfortable, and the pressure – coupled with everything else made her feel frustrated and a little tearful.

It didn't help that as fast as she decided she had found two phrases that fit together she would translate a third and it would make a mockery of the meaning she'd found in the first two.Or just when she though she'd found a key, a pattern to the frequency that the writer had switched between hieroglyphics and hieratic something would break the pattern.What the hell was the _matter with her?_

She stood in the middle of the chamber and stood a deep breath which she expelled from her lungs in a forceful manner.

"Oh for goodness sake girl, come on.You can do this," she said to herself.

Slowly she started to walk around the chamber, gathering pieces of paper, reading and shuffling them around.Starting again from scratch she got down onto her hands and knees and began to lay out the pieces of paper into a pattern, her lips moving silently as she read.Every now and then she would change some of the papers and sit back on her heels to read again.When she had used all the papers she had until then, she began frantically scribbling down fresh sections from the wall of the shrine onto the torn out pages of her notebook, working as one possessed.

She had to get this right… she owed it to Ardeth.

**

Sheltered behind the dune and nestled between the huge form of Mahmoud and another Medjai warrior he didn't recognise, Rick looked down on the terrifying sight that was Anck-Su-Namun's camp.

All around, they could see the huge forms of the serpentine warriors, hundreds of them, perhaps more than that.It seemed that Anck-Su-Namun had replaced all of her human servants with the supernatural beasts.

"Oh this is just great," he said, sarcasm dripping from every syllable.

"We will be sorely pressed to battle so many," the unknown Medjai beside him said.

"With any luck, we won't have to," he answered, "If Evie manages to make sense of that text."

"Do you see the girl?" Mahmoud asked.

Rick swept the spyglass around the camp once more.There were very few humans in the camp at all and most of those were older natives… diggers, general dogsbodies he figured.But he couldn't see any sign of either Meiri or Jonathan.

"Nope," he said briskly, and swept his gaze up to the entrance of the temple.There were two of the creatures guarding the doorway as though they expected someone to come charging in at any moment, and movement in the shadows just inside the doorway.He found himself wishing he could get close enough, to see what that movement was… but that was suicide.With a sigh he ducked back down behind the dune."If she's here, she's being held inside the temple."

"What would you have us do, First Medjai?"

Rick glanced to the warrior beside him, then for a moment lowered his forehead to the sand.He didn't need to be reminded of the responsibility he'd had thrust on him, or the circumstances leading to it.He shook his head.

"Well for starters, you can stop calling me that," he said quietly."It's O'Connell.And for now, just stay here – keep and eye on our friends down there.I have to go check how Evie's doing.Don't move unless something drastic happens."

"Define drastic," Mahmoud asked dryly.

Rick just patted his arm and keeping his head low, dashed down the side of the dune to the small group of Medjai waiting beside the horses.Mounting up they moved slowly at first, then once they were sure their hoof beats would not carry, spurred the horses on faster.

**

She rubbed her eyes and reached up to turn up the lamp that was standing on top of the dais.She could barely see her small handwriting on the paper.She had half of it written… and a blank piece of paper where she believed the destroyed section of wall should go… but…

"Damn it!" she swore. "_Hidden to his children… life unto him… has disappeared below the horizon… unknown… no tongue has power to declare…None of this fits, makes sense!"_

She ran her fingers through her hair, knotted from many days without a brush, suddenly she spotted a piece of text out of place and grabbed for it, laying it down in its rightful position she tried again to read that section of the text.

"_…No tongue has power to proclaim his like and yet his will may return such a one who has returned and had life unto…"_

__

Seemingly from nowhere a stronger draught blew through the chamber scattering paper like snowflakes.Evie could have screamed in frustration, but didn't want her constant Medjai companions believing she were being murdered, so instead doggedly began_ picking up the papers, ready to try again._

Unconsciously, as she picked them up she began to read them again."_Eye of Heaven… her turn can grant such aid as… Herald of the Morning… no tongue has power to proclaim his like… First Bright Sun… he speaks with the voice of an enemy…" she stopped suddenly.Religious references, all of them – and she didn't understand them but…_

Quickly she scurried about grabbing pieces of paper from here and there, and leaped to her feet to double check them against the sections of wall that had yielded them.Grabbing still more pieces of paper she leaned on top of the dais, right beside the light, and setting out pieces of paper read, slowly at first but with growing confidence.

"_And he makes himself known to the one whose heart beats for the Herald of the Morning, who in her turn can grant aid in understanding given by the will of Usert to She that walks in Beauty toward regaining light.Hold up the voice of Her power and but call to him.He speaks with the voice of an enemy above the First Rising Star, but no tongue has power to proclaim his like, which guides souls toward the Eye of Heaven."_

She rocked backward a little, her hands shaking as she read it again.

"By the will of Usert," she mused, and her hands found their way up to the bell nestled against her breast."Voice of her power…"

She reached beneath her blouse to tug on the leather until the bell came out and she could slip it off her head, to hold it in her hand and look at it intently.As her fingers closed around the warmed gold, she felt its power humming through her fingertips in a way she never had before.She took in a deep breath, a plan beginning to form in her mind.

"Ameen!" she called to one of her guards, who appeared in the doorway almost as if he had been standing right outside.

"My lady?"

"I want to know the minute Rick gets back."She sighed again.Rick wasn't going to like what she had in mind, but it was the only thing she could think of to get her past the obscure religious references that were making the text little better than gibberish in her overworked brain.

**

She hated the feel of their hands against her arms, like cold scales, but she was exhausted and could barely keep her eyes open, let alone her feet under her.

She had overshot the site by many miles and come at it from behind; even so their reptilian sentries had surrounded her horse and taken her down almost as if she had sent them word ahead that she was coming.

Meiri shuddered as they brought her closer and closer to the temple.

The air inside was cold, made colder still by the memories that ran into her mind as they started up the steps.Her eyes focussed on a single spot at the top of the stairs as she remembered.

_"Stay here," His voice was urgent as he spoke and fearfully she pressed herself against the wall as he turned.She looked past him to the man whose head emerged from a small alcove at the right of the stairs at the top.Ardeth's shoulders relaxed a little and she saw him sigh."Jonathan," he said._

__

_"Ardeth, old boy, am I glad to see you!" Evidently the man knew him, and reacted with equal relief.She glanced down the stairs, away from their voices, which she feared would have the guards come running in at any moment. "There are these… things wandering around.Hundreds of them."_

__

_She felt Ardeth move from beside her and knew he had gone up the stairs toward the man._

__

_"I think you exaggerate, my friend," he said."My people will have taken many of them out of the camp.We will be safe, you need not worry.Come."_

__

_"No, really, you have no idea how long I've been trying to find the way out of here before I found that little hole, or how bloody glad I am to see you."_

__

_"I do.You said alrea…"_

__

_The way Ardeth's words had stopped made her look back up to the two men.Her momentary alarm faded as she saw that they were embracing.The other man must have surprised Ardeth by pulling him into a hug._

__

_"Jonathan?" he gasped._

__

_But something in the tone of question in his voice brought her worry flooding back and she almost started back up the stairs.When he spoke again, the man sounded different… colder… and almost as though the tongue that spoke them was unused to the sounds._

__

_"Now all is as it should be, First Medjai."_

She stumbled on the stairs, breaking the memory that brought tears flooding back into her eyes.But they were accompanied by bitter angry feelings as her warrior guards led her to the right, up the stairs, instead of straight ahead as she had expected.

It was a steep flight of stairs in the same smooth black stone as the rest and it turned half way up, at a landing, through ninety degrees.Some way up this second flight of stairs, statues of many ancient gods stood out in relief from the wall, holding the torches that lit the way toward the opening at the top.

She could see the a greater light pouring out of the chamber they were approaching, as though it was glinting off gold, silver and gemstones and as silent as ever the unnatural creatures still holding her arms pulled her forward into that light.

Anck-Su-Namun stood staring down at a tooled leather bracer that she had in her hands.It bore the same design as the one she had given Meiri to wear.There were four others, laid on the top of a huge carved stone dais, still partly swaddled in the protective wooden covering, that graced the centre of the chamber.She looked up when the creatures brought Meiri to a halt before her.

"What a surprise," she said with more than a hint of sarcasm."Decided you didn't like it with the Medjai after all."

"You know _exactly why I'm here!" Meiri forced the words through clenched teeth."Orchestrated the whole thing so that I'd have nowhere else to go!"_

"Oh believe me, I had nothing to do with Suti's intervention…"Anck-Su-Namun tossed one of the bracers to Meiri.She made no attempt to catch it."But it's fitting.Tell me.Did he survive?"

"What do you want Anck-Su-Namun?" Meiri tried to ignore her question, but her heart twisted and her eyes filled with tears.

"What a shame." Anck-Su-Namun smiled.It was a sickly smile."I was thinking how nice it would be to have the mighty Ardeth Bay dancing at my beck and call…" she shrugged, "but no matter."

"I asked you what you wanted."Meiri summoned her anger to drive away any softer feeling.She needed to be strong.

"So you did."The creatures finally let her go when Anck-Su-Namun waved her hands at them.Meiri somehow managed to stay on her feet."But you already know what I want."

"The seventh bell," Meiri said."But what will you do with it once you have it."

"Do you know much about the mythology and history of my people, Meirionnydd – or did that nasty little man keep you in ignorance of that too?"

"I know enough… enough to know that you're insane!"

"Did you come here to insult me then, or is there actually some other reason for you to come walking back into the lion's den?" Anck-Su-Namun said, drawing a dagger and starting to use the point of it to clean beneath her fingernails."Because I'm rather busy and if you're just here as a distraction then I'd just as soon…"

Meiri gasped as quicker than she would have thought, Anck-Su-Namun threw the dagger to impale itself on a wooden panel still covering on side of the central dais.She felt the breath of wind as it passed her leg.

"You won't kill me and you know it… because for some reason, you can't _use that sistrum for whatever you need to."She paused, and feeling suddenly bold and with a flash of insight, the source of which felt like the visions she had, picked up the bracer and pointed to the hieroglyphics. "It has something to do with whatever this means.You can use the power for minor things, but you aren't one of Her priestesses are you?"_

Anck-Su-Namun growled and snatched back the bracer in an uncharacteristic moment of anger, revealing just how much Meiri had right."Did you bring the seventh bell?"

"You already know I didn't."Meiri answered.

"Then why are you here?" Anck-Su-Namun demanded, "Where is it?"

"Ardeth told you where it is," Meiri managed to say his name with only a slight catch in her voice.

"He told me nothing."

"He told you it's where you would never find it." Meiri corrected, delving right down into her anger and pain – into the rejection of the Medjai – for her to meet Anck-Su-Namun on equal terms."And I'm here because I _can."_

"Why would you?" Anck-Su-Namun's eyes narrowed in suspicion.

Hundreds of thoughts began whirling in Meirionnydd's mind.She already knew the location of the bell.Evelyn had it.Ardeth had told her that.She was here because she had nowhere else to go – that much was true… and she was hurting.Hurt by the cruel and angry words Karida Bay had thrown at her.But could she truly betray everything she had known and loved… every gentle thought that had made up her entire being?

"Because I have nothing left," she answered at last.

**

Between the headaches and the nausea and the overwhelming feelings of guilt, Jonathan hardly knew who he was any more.He sat with his back to the wall, staring down at the blood on his hands and clothes.

His hands felt like claws, and he felt so old he didn't know how it was he kept breathing.All those men… all those faces that haunted him every time he closed his eyes, and he'd showed not one of them mercy.

"No," he whispered."Not me…It wasn't me."

He climbed to his feet, swaying slightly and ran his hand over his whiskered face, knowing there was no way out of the chamber he was in, even if he could find his way around.The guards on the door – serpent figures that his murders had created...

"Not _me!"he yelled at the ceiling of the chamber and then fell back to his knees, curling up over himself and sobbing into his hands._

"You weep like a woman," Anck-Su-Namun's voice mocked him."Get up."

"Just kill me and get it over with!" he whined from his foetal position.

"I don't think so Jonathan," she said.

"Well I'm not jumping through any more of your hoops," he looked up at last and wiped his eyes defiantly on his bloodstained sleeve."So you might as well."

Anck-Su-Namun chuckled."Jonathan… Jonathan… Jonathan….How is it that you still don't understand you purpose?"

"I know enough…" he said."And there's no _way I'm playing your little game.I'll kill myself first!"_

"I rather doubt that." Anck-Su-Namun answered."You see… I don't think Suti would let you."

"It's my body… my mind," he said quietly.

"Not any more," she said."Not since you decided to wear his necklace.You gave it to him in that moment."

"I've given no one, anything," he cried.

"Oh but you have…" Anck-Su-Namun whispered.Leaning down to him she put a hand onto his back, between his shoulders."But I don't want you to be lonely – I've brought you a little friend to play with.She's going to help us."

He looked toward the door, to the woman Anck-Su-Namun's warriors brought in.She looked familiar to him somehow and he fought through the jumble of memories to try and place just who she was.

_Hearing footsteps she peeked out from his hiding place.His relief was so profound that it was almost religious when he saw the black robes of the Medjai coming down the stairs – a small, slight woman at his side._

He shook away the memory before it went any further… before he felt the mental agony of the struggle to keep at bay the overshadowing evil that he brought his hand forward, holding the knife…

"You?" he said despairingly as the girl settled herself down opposite him.She was eyeing him warily._She remembers too he thought."How could you?"_

"How could I what?" she asked flatly."Give myself up?Sell out and betray my friends…?Or maybe we're talking about murdering the man I loved."

Jonathan groaned and brought his hands to cover his face again.Trying to make the feel of his whiskers against the palm of his hand drive away the memory of the cold hard knife he had held.

"It wasn't my fault."He implored her to believe him.

"That doesn't seem to matter where the Medjai are concerned.They place blame, and don't bother to listen to the words you speak."He looked at her in surprise.So that was it… that was why she'd come back.They'd blamed her and now she was hitting back.

"Listen," he started."Those Medjai… they can be a bit… erm… a bit rude at times, but really, you shouldn't take it to heart so… it…"

"Spare me," she spat sarcastically."You weren't there!"

"No, no you're right, I wasn't." he came across the chamber, wiped his hands on his pants and then took her hands between his palms."But I know what they can be like… you need to give yourself time…"

"I _have," she said, pulling her hands away."I did, and now I'm where I belong.Where I have always belonged – and doing what I was born to do."_

"And _she told you that, did she?" Focussing on someone else's troubles, no matter how wrapped up they were with his own, momentarily made him feel better, restored some of his confidence in himself… in the man that was Jonathan Carnahan._

"She didn't need to," she said."I know what you're trying to do, but it isn't going to work.I've seen the man I love murdered by someone he thought was a friend…"

Jonathan's heart sank as her list went on and he moved slowly back to her own side of the chamber.

"…been blamed for his death and called "whore" by his sister, just because that love was returned, and spurned by everyone I ever cared for – most of whom spent the whole of my life lying to me…" she sighed, "So excuse me if I think working for the greater good of everyone is a hideous waste of time and heartache.If that's what good brings well then I'll take my chances with the other side."

"I don't know what your name is, but please, think about what you're doing," he said urgently."We can help each other.We could both get out of here."

"It's a waste of time Jonathan," she said harshly."It's only a matter of time before she gets that bell, and then… it won't matter where you are – where anyone is… dead is dead."

"No," he moaned, "The Medjai…"

"Are as good as dead themselves without Ardeth."

"You're wrong," he answered, but he wasn't sure that he believed what he was saying.He knew what a strong man, a right and just leader Ardeth was…_ had been he corrected himself._

"Am I?"she said, locking her eyes with his."Then tell me… why aren't they even now knocking the temple and everything in it to the ground…?"

"Because…" he stopped.It was a good question.

"Because without him… they can't see their way," she finished.

**

_They would be hard pressed; she had learned much in her several thousand years… but then… this man…Something about him… each time they had met, something about him had struck at him… at his memory._

__

_He was not like the others and yet at the same time he was more truly Medjai than any of the others into whose frightened faces he had gazed._

__

_He followed, floating, as he had learned on the ties of emotion that bound the world of men to the world of spirit that he now inhabited.He tried to follow the conversation, the feeling at least, for he could not understand the words.A few – he managed to identify as names…_

__

_The one he was watching, O'Connell – and another name that he kept saying, Evy.There was a bond of love between those two… that he had seen on that day that his Princess had betrayed his own love for her._

__

_And his fallen adversary… the one whose name he was last to learn, but which brought to his mind the shining light of a single star that had so often guided his way both into and out of the City of the Dead…Bay – Ardeth Bay._

__

_First Bright Sun – Herald of the Morning._

**

Dismounting, he discovered yet another newfound respect for the Medjai – that they managed to keep going no matter how exhausted they were.His own exhaustion threatened to sweep over him as he handed the reins to one of the younger Medjai nearby.

"O'Connell."He turned at the sound of his voice to find Rashid striding towards him."It is good that you have returned."

"What happened?" he asked.His heart clamped tightly as he thought about the million and one things it could be.

"I am concerned about your wife," Rashid told him."She has been working so hard she has made herself sick – and she will not rest."

"What do you mean sick?"Rick instantly turned and headed in the direction of the shrine.

"Just that," the Medjai fell into step with him."She does not eat, drinks little – has become dizzy and on one occasion almost lost consciousness."

"Damn it, Rashid you should have _made her stop!"_

"Believe me, O'Connell, I tried."Rashid looked at him with a very strange expression."I do not know how you cope with such a woman.I had thought my wife stubborn, but…"

"I'm sorry," he laid his hand onto the Medjai's arm."I know it's not your fault."

"Anyway, she gave instructions that she wished to be informed the moment you arrived."Rashid shrugged.

"Okay, I'll go see her now," Rick said."You think you could rustle us up something to eat?I'll get her out of that shrine if it's the last thing I do."

As he entered the shrine he sent the two Medjai guards away to their rest and continued onward toward the inner chamber… and there he stopped in the doorway.

She was an adorable sight, sitting as she was, on an upturned crate, with her head pillowed on her arms atop the central dais, surrounded by the bits of paper that she had evidently been trying to arrange when she had simply fallen asleep.

He stood staring for several moments, marvelling at her beauty – such gentle compassion housed in the body of the strong and stubborn woman that Rashid had been right in naming her.His beautiful wife – mother of his son.

Creeping over to her he slipped one arm under her knees and the other around her shoulders to lift her into his arms.She murmured in sleepy disapproval, but he gently shushed away her protests and to his surprise she turned and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Something… need to do… we…"

"Ssshh, it's okay honey," he said quietly as he started to carry her out of the chamber."You can tell me in the morning."

"But… only way…I can't…"

"Evie, go back to sleep," he exited the shrine and caught Rashid's eye to tell him to forget about the food.

"Wake…" she murmured, still more sleepily as if acquiescing to his gentle command."Imhotep."

"He's not here honey, you're safe," he whispered as he set her down on the bedroll inside their tent.She reached for him as he moved away.He told her, "I'll be right back," and went to tell Rashid that unless they were attacked, or something even more drastic happened, he didn't want to be disturbed.

**

The argument with Jonathan had taken what little strength remained and as the Englishman fell to a sullen, sulky silence – punctuated occasionally by whimpers as his eyes fluttered closed – she too lay herself down, curled up into a ball to conserve what little body heat she hadand closed her own eyes to sleep.

He was tormented by half memories of what his body had done, she could feel it, and yet he did not give up.Why then did she?In the deepest part of her she knew that what she was doing was wrong… that she should be back with the Medjai helping them to find a way to defeat this ancient evil.But her heart ached with loss and she couldn't shake the feeling that this was truly where she was _supposed to be – though to what end she knew not._

Everything about the last few weeks in her life had the stench of predestination about it, she'd seen that when she had tried to change what had happened by not allowing Ardeth to help her down from the ledge, and she hated the lack of control.

"I'm not a puppet," she whispered, then yawned as exhaustion took her toward sleep."I'm not…"

It was like drifting off down a darkened tunnel, which led to the world inhabited by her dreams.She always seemed to know when she was dreaming but this time, an escape from her pain, she surrendered to it – knowing it was just a dream.

_She sat on the soft skins that made her bed, her back against the wall of the cave in which she made her home.There was a weight in her lap and her fingers ran through the silk of long hair._

__

_She felt him sigh and he turned his head up to look at her, capturing her in his sad, but soft brown gaze._

__

_"Come home, Meiri," he asked and took her hand from his hair to bring her wrist to his lips._

__

_"You know I can't," she answered equally as sadly._

__

_"You can," he argued softly and sat up.He leaned across her, supporting himself on one hand while cupping her face in the other, so that she would look at him."It is over.The past is the past, hayati."_

__

_"Habibi…"_

__

_"Wallah ahtegek ana," he whispered and captured her upturned mouth in a delicate succession of light kisses._

Suffocating… dream shifted into memory...

_"Do not…" he whispered, raising a bloodstained hand to try and catch the tears rolling down her cheek._

__

_"Ardeth, no," she moaned._

__

_"I am… sorry," he sighed, and lost the fight for consciousness._

__

_His hand never made it to catch her tears, but fell against the side of her face, where she cradled it to her cheek.The Medjai finally reached their fallen leader and she felt arms lift her away from beside Ardeth as they knelt beside him.One of the men looked back up at Rashid as he held her.Meirionnydd felt as though her heart had shattered into a million tiny pieces at the look that passed between them.She started struggling to get back to his side."Ardeth…?ARDETH!"_

She felt as thought she couldn't breathe, the pain of the dream was so intense.It constricted her heart as though a huge, strong fist had clamped around it and was trying to pull her from life.

She sobbed, not once but twice, and still there was no relief from the unending pain of losing him all over again.

"It's all right."The vowel sounds were drawn out and arms closed round her, pulling her resistant form against the warmth of another human body."It was just a dream."

Of their own volition, her arms snaked up around his sides to hold him too – needing the comfort from the overwhelming and confusing emotions she felt.

**

The first thing he noticed when he woke up was that his arms were empty.Damn it, couldn't the woman take even a few moments to rest?He quickly pulled on his clothes and stepped out of the tent, preparing to go and carry her if necessary from the shrine to the fire to have some breakfast.

To his surprise she was already there, sipping from a cup and nibbling on some kind of bread.She looked miserable and pale.He frowned in concern as he switched his course mid stride and went to sit down beside her.

"Hi," she said quietly.

"Honey, are you all right?You look awful," he answered.

"Oh make me feel better why don't you!" she snapped, and then she sighed."Rick I'm sorry.I'm just tired, on edge and frustrated."

He sighed too."I take it that means its not going too well in there."

"Have some tea," she said, and handed him a cup.She grabbed a nearby cloth and picked up a canteen from almost right on top of the fire, to pour some of the steaming liquid into it."There's something I want to show you, but you need to have your breakfast first."

This worried him.There were very few occasions when Evie had insisted he have his breakfast before she would show him things… in fact only two he could think of.One was the day she had told him she was pregnant… not very long after they were married in fact, the other a few years later – when she showed him an urgent message from Ardeth that had meant they had to come running back to Egypt to rescue their friend from a whole world of trouble.He shuddered at how that one had turned out, but both had been life changing.

"Evie?" he questioned, after looking at her for a very long time.

"After breakfast," she said firmly and handed him a plate that contained bread and cheese, and a few strange looking fruits.

"Why didn't you wake me?" he asked, starting to nibble at the bread, and then realising how hungry he was, taking bigger bites and relishing the tangy taste of the cheese against the sweetness of the fruit.

"You were so peaceful," she answered."And you'd ridden half way across the desert, it didn't seem right to wake you."

"Honey, I worry about you.You're working just as hard as I am – and yesterday Rashid told me that you nearly fainted?"

"That was stupid," she confessed."I didn't notice how long I'd been in there without anything to drink, and it was hot and I…I just got up too quickly."

"Even so," he didn't like the tone of her voice, but let it slide for the time being."It just proves to me that I need to worry about you.I know how you get and most of the time it's a blessing…"

"It's a blessing now, Rick," she interrupted."Unless I miss my guess, at the look on the faces of those Medjai… if I don't tell you what's in that text then you're going to have to go into battle again with those creatures.And the odds aren't very good are they?"

He met her frank stare and then sighed.

"No," he said."You're right."

"Well then you'd better hurry up with that breakfast, because what I have to tell you is going to take a while," she said, turning back to her own plate of food.

**

She watched him from the corner of her eye as they walked together, hand in hand, toward the entrance of the shrine.She had no idea how she was going to even tell him what she wanted to do, let alone to persuade him that it was absolutely necessary.

But necessary it was.She had drawn a complete blank in understanding the occult meaning of many of the religious references in that shrine and needed to talk to someone that could.

It was cooler inside than out, even though it was only relatively early; the sun had risen and started to bake the desert sands and all its inhabitants.

Quietly she entered the inner chamber and turned Rick to push him gently until the back of his legs encountered the dais and he half sat, half leaned against the stone.

"I just want you to listen," she said, feeling more nervous than when she made her presentation to the Bembridge Scholars before her appointment to the British Museum."I don't want you interrupt, to start spluttering objections, just to listen, all right?"

"No," he said with a slight snort in his voice."I'll listen, but I won't promise not to interrupt."

She thought hard for a moment.He promised to listen.She knew he wasn't going to like the idea, and was bound to interrupt even if he'd promised not to because he would hate it that much, so she at least valued his honesty.

"Good enough," she said and nodded.

"All right," he folded his arms.She didn't like that but there was little she could do about it."I'm listening."

"I've worked for days now on this text.I have all the pieces written down, translated into English, but it's all just a jumble of disjointed and meaningless phrases because I don't understand the religious references."She paused and sighed."They're so obscure that I doubt even the Bembridge Scholars would be able to make sense of it."

"You said that before.So what are you telling me?" he asked."That you can't do it?"

She shook her head and moved to a section of the wall closest to the door, the only section that she had managed to get to make sense.

"I'm telling you that I need help… and I think I know a way to get it."She reached under her blouse and took off the bell to hold it lightly between her thumb and forefinger."This section of the text refers to the power of a single one of the bells from Usert's sistrum to manifest someone from the world of spirit into the world of matter – the physical world.I think that's how that man managed to bring back Anck-Su-Namun."

"No," Rick said firmly, getting up from his perch.One look into his eyes and she could see that already he was ahead of her; had figured out what she was going to ask and had given his answer before she even had a chance to explain herself.

"He was a priest, when he was alive… a High Priest.He could understand all this standing on his head."She sighed heavily."You said you were going to listen."

"I have listened," he said, taking her arm."And now I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that… you didn't say it…I'm taking you out of this shrine – now!"

"Rick O'Connell, you take you hands off me this instant," she pulled out of his grasp and backed up a step, waving the hand that held the bell around to indicate the shrine."Understanding this text is the only thing that's going to help the Medjai, give them the strength they need to be able to defeat Anck-Su-Namun and _he is the best chance we have of doing that…hell he's the __only chance, because I can't do it!"_

"Give me that!" He snatched the bell from her still outstretched hand and waved it in front of her face.It made a high pitched tinkling sound."If Imh…"

She shot out her hand and pushed her fingers against his lips to cut off what he had been about to say, removing them only when she was sure he was not going to complete the name, but when he spoke again he was no less irate.

"If he's the only chance we've got then we are in serious trouble," he said.

"I never for one minute said that we weren't." she agreed and snatched back the bell from his hand.

"If this thing can bring the dead back to life," he pointed his finger at the bell, now in her grasp."Then why not just go… wave it over the top of Ardeth's head, wake him up and give him back command of the Medjai so that we can get you the hell out of the sun, because honey, the heat here has fried your brains!"He reached out and took the bell from her, starting toward the door of the shrine.

"That's not what I said at all," she caught his arm and turned him back."I said it had that power to manifest someone from the world of spirit into the physical world."

"So fine, go manifest Ardeth's spirit back into his body," he said abruptly, and held the bell out of her reach when she reached for it again.

"There's nothing more in the world that I'd like to do that to bring back Ardeth," she said softly, and saw his face soften at her tone."But I can't… not with this."

She reached over and took the bell back from his lowered hand.He sighed and put his arms around her shoulder to draw her into a hug.For a moment returning sorrow almost overwhelmed her.

"Because Ardeth's faith doesn't allow for him to be _in the world of spirit.He's either with Allah, or he's in hell. – either way Usert's power can't reach him." She looked up into the anguish she saw in his eyes as she snatched hope of somehow returning Ardeth to life from beneath his very fingertips."And we have to face that, and that fact that without help understanding the references in that text, we are stuck and it will only be a matter of time before Anck-Su-Namun figures out where this is, and comes for it."_

"But do you honestly think that you can call up Imhotep with that thing and expect him to behave – to help?" Rick asked her gently.

"If I'm right about that text, then so long as I have the bell in my possession, he can't harm me." Evie said, "Or anyone around me unless I tell him to."

"You mean it gives you the power to control him?" he said.

"To a degree," she admitted.

There was a long silence.Rick held her gentle, rocking slightly from side to side, and moving his head over the text in the shrine.She could feel the tension in him and almost tell as each thought entered his head, was weighed and then put aside in favour of the next.At last he spoke, very quietly.

"Supposing we do this, what makes you think he'll tell the truth?What could we possibly give him to make him want to help us defeat this evil?"

"After what she did to him back at Ahm Shere… Anck-Su-Namun," she said.

**

Ensuring there was no one watching, she leaned heavily against the altar in the gilded chamber and unhooked the sistrum from her belt.

She had noticed the fatigue yesterday.It was as though the sistrum was drawing her energy even as it gave her power and she was sure that it was because of the missing bell.She ran her fingers over the space at the top of the loop where the bell would fit once she had it.

She needed that bell, and she also needed to find another way to bring the energy that the sistrum needed.A cold smiled found its way onto her face.If the girl wanted to help – then she wouldn't stop her.

Leaving the sistrum where it was for a moment, on the altar, Anck-Su-Namun went to the door and ordered the guard there to have the girl brought up to her before returning to her place in front of the altar.

"I've been thinking about you," she said as she heard the footsteps that announced Meiri's presence."About what you said."

Meiri sighed and Anck-Su-Namun turned toward her with a questioning look.She saw uncertainty, but also a hurt kind of anger in the girl's eyes.

"You don't have to humour me," Meirionnydd said after many moments of scrutiny."I know what you think of me."

"Do you really?" she said.The girl amused her – the girl, in some ways, reminded her of herself… the way she had been before Seti had spotted her."I think you're in a terrible position and keep questioning if you're doing the right thing."

She stopped as Meiri looked up at her in surprise.Again she returned the girl's gaze with a questioning expression.

"Surprised I care enough to notice?" she asked.

"Surprised that you noticed, but not foolish enough to think that you care," Meiri answered.Anck-Su-Namun heard the strength in her voice and quiet admiration crept into her mind.

"You're right," she admitted."But we could work well together, you and I…"

"So long as I tell you where to find the seventh bell."The girl gave her a sarcastic smile that didn't reach her eyes.

_Gently, Anck-Su-Namun… she told herself._

She didn't move or say anything for many moments, and then she turned and walked to pick up the Sistrum.She brought it back to Meiri and carefully held it out toward the girl.

"You never did get to feel the power you were discovering for him, did you?" she asked."Go on, it doesn't bite – and I know you'll be able to feel it."

"Because of the way Anton opened my mind to such things?" Meiri asked.Anck-Su-Namun saw the careful way she reached and took hold of the ancient artefact.

"Because you are Her Priestess, little girl," she corrected quietly."And as you're starting to accept, because it's what you were born to do."

**

Rick still didn't like it.She could tell that from his body language, but he understood the need and made a convincing enough argument to persuade the Medjai that it was the only way they were going to win this fight – to make a deal with the devil.

She looked around the ring of Medjai, thirty of them, all armed with drawn scimitars, standing ready as though they faced a hoard of marauding enemy.Their faces were tight with the worry of it and some of them glanced at their neighbours betraying their nervousness.

Her sweaty palms betrayed her own.She stood next to Rick in the middle of the ring, with Rashid beside the two of them.He too had his scimitars in his hands.

"Are you sure there is no other way, O'Connell," he asked, sounding as nervous as the other Medjai looked.

Beside her, Rick just shook his head.

"I wish there were," Evie added, trying to sound comforting."But it will be all right, Rashid."

"I wish I had your faith, Evelyn," he answered."Yet here we are summoning the very creature that we have guarded against these many centuries.It opposes everything we were ever taught to believe."

"I know," she said quietly."But at least he'll come back as a man this time, not as a creature."

"And what of his powers?" She cringed as Rick asked the question.He'd still be able to use the power granted to him as a High Priest and she'd hoped not to have to admit that to him.She worried that he'd change his mind.

"He's a man, Rick… but still a High Priest." She laid her hand onto his arm for a moment."But we'll have the bell.Don't forget that."

He sighed and said, "Let's do this thing before common sense gets the better of me."

Breathing deeply, Evie tried not to shake as she raised the hand holding the bell and then with a flick of her wrist filled the circle of men with the light, high sound of the bell as its voice stirred the air.

"Imhotep," she called softly.

A light breeze swirled around their feet, to stir the sand in little whirlwinds.It sent a shiver down her spine as it continued to blow, growing stronger when she flicked her wrist again to keep the sound of the bell filling the air.

"Imhotep," she spoke a little louder and could actually feel the power swirling from her hand that held the bell, to entwine with the wind the now blew the sand in larger spirals that whipped the bottoms of the Medjai's robes against their legs.From overhead, the sound of rumbling came from a sky, once cloudless that was now filling with huge dark clouds.

Several of the Medjai looked up as the sky blackened, and shifted nervously and Rashid barked a harsh command in Arabic and the stilled at once.

A third time Evie flicked her wrist, and somehow the high pitched sound of the bell carried above the growing moan of the wind and the continuing rumble of thunder.The noises all came together to form a supernatural concerto of power as she raised her head and shouted to be heard above the sound.

"Imhotep!"

Lightening flashed in a spider's web across the sky, not once but three times as Evie held her breath.It gathered in the clouds, forming an almost golden ball of seething energy and just as Evie thought her lungs would burst from the tension, exploded toward the ground at the centre of the circle.

Sand exploded in a crown-like pattern, like a drop of water into a larger pool, and the smell of ozone was sickening.

She raised her arms to cover her face, and felt Rick throw himself around her to give her further protection from the flying sand, and when the cascade was finished, and silence returned to the area, all eyes turned on the spot where the sand still let up plumes of smoke, and the dark shape in the midst of the obscuring cloud.

Rashid moved as the breezes carried it away, his blades coming up in a blur of silver in the returning sunlight as the clouds dissolved into nothing.He crossed the sharp edges at the throat of the figure in front of him, with the tips of the blades pushing against the man's shoulders until he understood and under the pressure of the scimitar, lowered himself to his knees.

Evie watched and was not for a single moment fooled into believing that it was humility that guided the High Priest's actions.As though he could tell what she was thinking, he turned his dark lined eyes on hers, and an amused smile flickering across his undeniably handsome features.She swallowed, and pulled herself up straight as he spoke.

"So… you made great effort to use your Goddess given power to raise me, only to have your Medjai playmates end my life a third time?"He raised an eyebrow."I think not."

He raised his arms and pushed the scimitar blades away from his throat, rising to his feet as Rashid, in spite of himself backed away a step.

"Imhotep," Evie greeted him warily.She knew she was the only one that would have understood his words."Welcome."

He swept a small, but sincere bow in her direction."Nefertiri," he said and then questioned, "Welcome?"

"You must forgive our precautions," she said slowly, a little rusty in actually _forming words in Ancient Egyptian.He chuckled, he actually chuckled and Evie couldn't help but smile.__My God he's charismatic._

"Nothing to forgive, my Princess.I understand," he said, starting to walk around the Medjai in front of him toward her.Rick instantly stepped between her and Imhotep and behind him Rashid raised his scimitars once more.

Surprising her, Imhotep inclined his head in a small bow toward her husband."O'Connell," he said.The name sounding strange coming from his lips.

"You stay the hell away from my wife," Rick said and Imhotep looked past him, to Evie, in query.

"He's concerned about you being near me," she told him.

"You have nothing to fear from me," he said lightly."You have my gratitude… for once again returning me to life."

"Yes well…"

"Oh I understand from your expression it is not from choice," he said, and almost with a frown and sweeping his hand toward Rick added, "Please tell your lover he need not fear for your safety."

"What'd he say?" Rick understood that he was being spoken about and half turned his head toward her.

"He wants you to know that he's not going to hurt me," she said and eased Rick to one side, taking his hand to appease his need to protect her.She saw his sarcastic smile and felt him grip her hand tightly.

"Yeah right," he said quietly.

"He does not believe," Imhotep said, and shrugged slightly – almost imperceptible beneath the voluminous black robes he wore."So why, Nefertiri?Why have you summoned me?"

"The shrine," she nodded toward the nearby shrine and chose her next words carefully so as to avoid either asking for his help, or letting him hear of her need."You will read it with me."

He paused for a moment, looking around the circle of Medjai warriors who all grasped their blades more firmly when his gaze fell on them.She watched the lazy but superior smirk find its way onto his face before he once more inclined his head toward her and then held out his hand as he stepped closer again.

"Show me," he instructed softly.


	15. Betrayal

Power Is

Chapter 15 

She was still guarded, she had found that out when she had tried to leave, but at least now her prison was larger, there was more to look at and she didn't have to put up with being in the room with Jonathan, who had tried at every turn to sway her from her course.

But she couldn't understand why it was that Anck-Su-Namun had left her alone with the sistrum, when she quite obviously didn't trust her.She could have done anything to it or with it… could have – if she had even half an idea how to use it.

The moment her fingers had closed around the handle she had felt the power, as Anck-Su-Namun had said she would.It was the raw power of a woman, full of chaos and the power to create… or to destroy.

But it was also full of sadness and lament and loss that brought to mind her own._Lament, all __Egypt__… the sun is set, and He is lost to Me…_

She snatched her hand away from the artefact as the words came into her mind and images came to her unbidden…_A beautiful, a painfully beautiful woman weeping over the body of an equally attractive man…As the image faded she noticed that the woman was winged._

Anck-Su-Namun had been gone for a while.She had left her to consider the offer she had made, for them to work as a team to bring Her power to the desert, to return Her to Her rightful place.She frowned in confusion.

If this artefact had anything to do with Isis, as she now believed after the glimpse of a vision she had just seen, then how could working with the power of the sistrum be wrong in any way… and how was it that Anck-Su-Namun was using it in such a negative way?Were Isis and Usert one and the same?

Suddenly she wished she'd paid more attention when studying Ancient Egyptian theology.

"So," Anck-Su-Namun swept back into the room and came to snatch up the sistrum from the altar."Enough time.Tell me…"

Meiri fought back the torrent of emotions that flooded her in that moment.Jonathan had been right.She had been a fool to come back here… weak and vindictive to take to heart the words thrown at her by someone grieving as much as she was, but now she was caught.If she didn't tell Anck-Su-Namun what she wanted to know, she would likely be hurt and forced to give the information by whatever supernatural source Anck-Su-Namun had used to infest Jonathan's mind.

"He gave it to one of his friends… the woman," she said, and fixed her eyes sadly on the floor, praying silently that somehow Evie would come through this.

**

It was all so obvious now that Imhotep was providing her with understanding of the references, though so far she had found nothing that would give them the upper hand in the battle with Anck-Su-Namun and her minions.

They had been working since morning, and now, late in the afternoon fully half of the text was translated and made sense at last.It was a story, and a prophesy of a time when Horus would once again walk the earth to combat the evil of his brother Suti.

"Yes, yes…" she said, interrupting Imhotep's explanation of another part of the text."I just don't understand how this all fits in with what's going on _now or even why it was such an issue in your time."_

He turned his half smiling face her way and indicated the dais in the chamber's centre.She moved to perch on the side of the stone platform.

"Nefertiri," he said softly, a tone almost of respect, "Have you forgotten so much already of your antagonism with Anck-Su-Namun, the reasons for it, beyond our involvement behind your father's back?"

The Medjai guard behind them in the chamber twitched in nervousness at his proximity to Evelyn and would have moved forward had she not looked his way and shook her head.

"You mean it had something to do with all of this," she asked, and gestured toward the nearest wall.In the back of her mind she recalled the dream she'd had – where she, as Nefertiri, had defaced the wall.

"The Usertim knew of this place, and of the promises it speaks for a more Utopian society.Were Horus to arise the world would be a very different place," he answered.

"Imhotep, no offence," she said, "But the world is a very different place already… if he returned now, what power would he have to affect anything?"

"What power have I… as High Priest of Osiris?" he countered, and reached out to take her hand.She tensed, and bit back the little whimper that gathered in the back of her throat.Her guard shifted again, and was this time stilled by an uncompromising stare from Imhotep himself."The Usertim, I believe, had Anck-Su-Namun cast in the role of mother to the child Horus."

Evie swallowed hard as his thumb traced an absent line back and forth over her wrist.She fought the urge to pull her arm free of his undeniably gentle grasp – to let him know how off balance he had her – she knew that the moment she showed him any weakness her task in getting him to tell them the things they needed to know would become ten times more difficult.

"So tell me, Nefertiri," he said in a low, secretive tone."Why so important that you defeat her now?Already you have more than she ever could."

"What she's doing is wrong," she said firmly."She has the artefact, and uses its power for evil.She did something to my brother and you've seen the result of that."

"The death of their First Medjai," Imhotep nodded his understanding and his eyes narrowed."Now I understand."

"What…?" she asked; almost fearful of what he thought he had seen.

"You fear for the life of the child you carry, and wish to resurrect the child's father so that he can protect you both from the wrath of your husband," he said."And so again you seek my help in matters of the flesh."

"What!" Evie did, this time, pull her hand from his grasp, and also leaped to her feet._How did he know?She started spluttering for words.__Forget that – how dare he suggest that I'd be unfaithful to Rick – and with Ardeth! "I didn't…I haven't…"_

Without warning the walls of the shrine started to spin and heat crept up along her legs.Her stomach lurched and the air came out of her lungs in a rush that left her unable to take another breath.Her ears started ringing just as the strength to stay upright failed completely.

**

_She tried to behave as though she belonged there; as though she was at peace, but the truth was, she was not.She ached… hear heart ached and more than ever before she felt sick, sick to her stomach._

__

_"My Princess?"Imhotep appeared behind her, startling her.He was just straightening from his low bow as she turned to face him.He had his priests behind him; four of them… all still leaned over their eyes turned downward._

__

_"Lord Imhotep," she said, her voice shaking slightly because of the way her heart hammered in her chest and her stomach churned."I wish to speak with you privately."_

__

_His eyes locked with hers… amusement.She could see amusement in his eyes and his face held that same supercilious smile he always wore.She felt as though he already knew what she was going to ask._

__

_"Leave us," he commanded, and flicked his hands at his sides.The four priests rose as one and padded silently from the temple.Imhotep swept his arm toward a doorway that led to his private chambers, and fearfully she preceded him in.She turned to him as he closed the door behind him.He was still smiling._

__

_"Imhotep…" she licked her lips, both to moisten them, and to fight back the increase in nausea at that moment."I need your help."_

__

_"My help, Nefertiri?" he moved to sit on a low couch, drawing her with him and pouring water from a jug into a cup on a low table nearby._

__

_She trembled as she took the water from him, though not out of fear of him – just of the magnitude of that which she was about to ask._

__

_"I am with child, Imhotep."She did not look at him."But it cannot be."_

__

_Another slow smiled spread over his face and he turned his head onto one side.She could feel him looking her over with a priest's eyes, to see the truth of it._

__

_"Who?" he asked a last."He must be a man you love very much to risk your father's wrath if your crime is discovered."_

__

_"It does not matter who fathered the child.And my father will not discover anything." She looked up at him then, with as strong a look as she could muster, "Because only you and I know the truth."_

__

_"And I have Pharaoh's ear," he said in an amused tone, but without any intended threat._

__

_"And Pharaoh's favourite mistress in your bed," she said and matched his tone. "You will not be so quick to reveal my secrets, I think."_

__

_He inclined his head seeming surprised at her tenacity."I had thought we were undiscovered."_

__

_"The eyes of many watch you Imhotep." She started slowly, "Have you not noticed them, watching you and following her around as though she were truly royal."_

__

_"None will speak," he said confidently."For their own actions could be considered as treason were Seti so guided."_

__

_"Help me, and I will maintain **my** silence," she said._

**

"Come on, Evie, honey… wake up," he said softly, fearfully.When Imhotep had come walking out of the Shrine, carrying Evie, with the Medjai guard right beside him a million thoughts, and all of them terrible had flown through his head and his heart had missed several beats.But he had also maintained enough of his faculties to recognise that Imhotep also was concerned at her condition.

The High Priest was currently held within the chamber, guarded by several of the Medjai and Rick was frustrated by the fact that he couldn't talk to him.The Medjai guard had said that he and Evie were talking, she jumped up, appearing to be angry, and then in the next moment she had fainted.

Her eyelids fluttered again, and he replaced the cloth over her head with one handed to him by Rashid.

"Ma'nakhtuf…" she murmured, slowly starting to come round.

"Evie, it's okay honey," Rick leaned closer and moved the cloth so that he could push back her hair."You fainted…"

"Rick?" she opened her eyes and started to try and sit up.He stopped her with a gentle hand pressing her down against the skins.

"Don't try and get up.You're resting," he said firmly.

"No, you don't understand." She continued to struggle so in the end he helped her to sit up and supported her when she grabbed for his shoulder."I need to see Imhotep.I need to talk to him."

"Later…"

"No, Rick… not later.NOW!" she pushed his hand away."Every moment counts."

"Evie, what are you talking about?" Rick frowned.He had that lead feeling in his stomach again.

"Ardeth…"

"Baby," he said infinitely gently."Ardeth died… he…"

"I know that!" She was almost yelling at him, her face a picture of desperation and her eyes filled in tears."But Imhotep said something, before I fainted…Oh Rick I think we can…!"

"Evie," Rick said cautiously."This is…"

"Don't _Evie me," she answered."Just get me Imhotep.We need to know what he was talking about!"_

"I will bring him," Rashid dropped a hand onto his shoulder and gave him a meaningful look.

As soon as the Medjai was safely out of earshot he turned back to Evie and asked quietly, "Evie, what's going on?"He saw her eyes flick away before returning to look at the bridge of his nose.His heart constricted."You're sick… aren't you?"

"Rick, no!" she met his eyes at last."There's nothing wrong with me at all.I'm fine.It was just the shock of what…"

"Honey don't lie to make me feel better." He was a little confused – she was looking into his eyes so she had to be telling him the truth, but it still felt to him like she was lying.

"Honestly, I promise you, there's nothing wrong," she said again."Trust me," she leaned up to kiss him.He moaned as he melted into her kiss.He knew she was distracting him with it, but he couldn't help himself.He loved her so much and her kisses were like a balm to him.

**

They were still kissing when Rashid returned with Imhotep in tow.When she looked up it was into the amused expression in the High Priest's eyes.She gave him a look of challenge and nodded to a nearby pile of skins as Rick moved to sit beside her and put his arm around her shoulders.

"Still you do not tell him."Imhotep noted as he sat."I must be in part at least correct.The child _is that of the Medjai.An arrangement perhaps – to ensure him an heir?"_

"Enough!" she snapped, blushing in spite of herself and aware that Rick was looking at her very oddly."You are wrong.Very wrong, my husband is the father of my child."

Imhotep shrugged indifferently, though the superior smile never left his face."But it _is your wish to resurrect the Medjai."_

"He's my friend," she said firmly.

"Do you love him?" Imhotep asked.

"Oh…" Evie screwed her face up and let out a groan of frustration, "Why do you keep _on with your ridiculous accusations.Of __course I love him.He's my friend."_

"It is not enough." Imhotep shook his head, the smile finally leaving his face."For the sistrum to return a man to life, its power must be of love unending, unconditional… physical as well as of the heart itself.Filial or platonic love will not suffice."

"I don't understand." Evie frowned."Why not?Love is love."

"Indeed," Imhotep agreed."And yet it must be the love between a man and woman that powers the sistrum.Usert used it in this way to return her consort, Asar Saa, to life and have him father the child Horus."

Evie ran her hand over her forehead.Her mind skimming through what she already knew.Isis was the mother of Horus… how could she have missed that Usert and Isis were one and the same…?So Asar Saa must be then name of the God Osiris.

"Would someone mind telling me what's going on?" Rick piped up; he flicked his gaze between Imhotep and his wife.

Evie sighed, "This sistrum that everyone has been fighting over has the power to resurrect Ardeth, but there isn't anyone to use it.It has to be a lover that brings him back."

"Well that's easy enough, Meirionnydd loves him." Rashid said.

"Yes I know," she said."But she's not here and the chances are she's run right into Anck-Su-Namun's troops."

"Well then I guess we gotta get her back." Rick stated the obvious.

"Yes but…"

"My Princess, what are you discussing?" Imhotep interrupted.

"Erm…" Evie recapped the conversation for Imhotep."So we have to rescue the woman that loved him from Anck-Su-Namun.What?" she finished as she saw the look on his face.

"It is not quite so simple," Imhotep answered with a note of regret in his voice."The rite must be performed within The Temple of the Gods… and besides – if you use the sistrum to bring back your friend, you will set in motion the prophesy that the Usertim were trying so hard to guard against."

"What do you mean?"Evie shuddered in sudden dread.

**

He woke suddenly, his head pounding and the nightmare images from his dream fading mercifully quickly from his mind…. images of a world devastated by the wrath of an angry God… that was housed in his body.

He pulled himself to his feet.Every bone was aching; he was sore from all the cuts and bruises and felt completely miserable. He stared down at his hands that were more like claws – burned from the many attempts to remove the necklace.

"Come on Evie, hurry!" he moaned lightly.Shivering against a sudden chill he felt.

_I will not be denied…_

The voice in his head was accompanied by a sharp burning stab of pain centred in his heart that took his legs from under him.It spread to his stomach so that he curled up on himself, wrapping his arms around himself and squeezing his eyes shut tightly as though he could keep away the inevitable intrusion.It had never been this strong before, never been this painful or intense.

_He will not defeat me this time…_

"Jonathan…." He started chanting his litany in an attempt to hold back the tide of possession that was already sweeping through his body."Jonathan Carnahan…"

**

"Are you telling me," Rick almost stopped the horse he was riding next to Evie's camel, "that if those two things are not done within three days of resurrecting Ardeth then Seth will manifest on Earth?"

She nodded slowly."He read the wall to me Rick.I read it WITH him, he's not lying.It said, _a life returned shall be the beginning of a new made life, and a life shall be given to bind Seth away from world of the Gods."_

"Evie, this is mad." Rick sighed."Even if we CAN get Ardeth's body from his family… you're telling me run the risk of awakening something even worse than our friend over there."He nodded toward where Imhotep sat proudly on another of the camels, surrounded by Medjai warriors.

"Yes… well maybe no…" she said with a frown.

"Oh so you're planning human sacrifice now?" he said with a little more sarcasm than he intended.

"I'm planning on saving my brother and bringing back a man that helped to save the life of my son!" she raised her voice and Rick saw many of the Medjai look around.He sighed and closed his eyes momentarily.When he opened them again he met Imhotep's amused smile.

"What the hell are you smiling at?" he said vehemently.

"Nem Jedef?" Imhotep flicked his eyes momentarily towards Evie.

"Senejef hem-necher menekh," she said slowly.

Rick glared at Imhotep as the conversation with Evie continued in ancient Egyptian, shutting him out until he couldn't stand it any more and wanted to order the Medjai to run him through.

"Would not returning Anck-Su-Namun to the world of the dead count as the giving of a life?" Rashid interrupted both Evie's conversation with Imhotep and his seething jealousy.

"Maybe," he agreed, "But even so, surely it needs to be done in some official kind of way.I'm not sure that even I could do that.It's too… cold blooded."

"Believe me… to execute the beast Anck-Su-Namun for her crimes…I would be honoured!" Rashid answered from between clenched teeth.

"Neiy!" Imhotep snapped."Anck-Su-Namun neti!"

"What did he say?" he and Rashid asked the question at the same time.He looked at the Medjai and then at Evie.

"That's she's his." Evie said."I don't think it took a genius to work out what you two were saying."She looked toward Rashid with a sheepish smile, "You didn't hide your feelings on the matter terribly well."

"I had no intention of doing so," Rashid answered."A life must be given in return for Ardeth's – who better than she that caused his death.But for Anck-Su-Namun, your brother would not have been possessed and would not have attacked him."

"Rashid," Evie said quietly with a nod to the uncompromising look of sheer hatred on Imhotep's face."I don't think he's arguing the fact that Anck-Su-Namun has to die… just the person that will take her life."

**

She frowned as her prisoner stormed into the main room of the temple.

"I did not send for you?Why are you…" she stopped as he slapped her with the back of his hand and almost sent her flying across the room.Her gaze flickered to Meiri, who, she noticed, had put as much room between herself and Jonathan as possible.

"Fool!" She understood from his voice – and from the language he was speaking – that it was not her prisoner at all, but the God Suti in control of the body."Did you not understand the words as they were laid down?"

"What do you mean?" she straightened herself up before her Lord.

"Destroy the body."He pointed to her."Go and bring the Medjai's body to me and I will tear it apart and feed it to my warriors."

"The Medjai is dead." She assured him, still not understanding the allusion of his words."And with him died the spirit of his people.They will be yours Lord Suti."

She squeaked as his hand shot out and grabbed her by the throat and curled her fingers around his wrist as she was pulled to within a breath of his face.

"I took the life of the First Medjai so that I might be freed to walk the Earth, but should he rise, he could oppose me." The voice was measured but full of anger."This cannot be.You must send the warriors to bring back the body that I can destroy it – put it out of reach of my loving sister lest she steal from me my victory a second time."

He released her suddenly and she grabbed for the side of the bier in the centre of the temple room, gasping for breath as Suti opened his arms and turned full circle.

"It was in this very room before the dawning of our glory amongst men that she snatched if from my grasp.He was nothing but bloodied parts… scattered to the four corners of the earth and yet still she sought them all out."He paused and pointed around the chamber at the many statues of the gods that adorned the room."They all gave their blessing – gave her the rite by which she might fan the breath back into his body with her shining wings – and she gave him back his life, and from their joining they brought forth the child sun,Horus… my nemesis.It _will not happen again."_

"No my Lord," she agreed finding her voice again.

"Bring me the body!" he ordered."And take this girl out of my sight…"

In a single stride he had crossed the room and grabbed Meiri's arm, to pull her into the light of the nearby torch.

"Or perhaps I should amuse myself with you before I have you also… returned to the Lady you serve, Usertim."

"I don't understand…" Meirionnydd whimpered and looked in appeal at Anck-Su-Namun.She shrugged and smiled at the girl.

"My Lord wants to know if he should play with you before you die." She said, and swept out of the room to the almost pleasant sounds of Meirionnydd's terrified screams.

**

"Absolutely not!" Karida yelled into his face in the middle of the argument that had until that point been relatively stormy anyway."Bad enough that you dare to raise the abomination, but then to trust his word that my brother can be returned to life?"

"No," Rick pointed his finger at her nose."Not his words.Words on the wall of a shrine that were written _thousands of years ago.Imhotep had…"_

"Don't you even speak his _name in my presence."She pushed his hand away from her face. "You have no right to presume…"_

"Oh don't I…?" he'd had enough.He had not wanted to use the tactics he employed then, but she left him no choice.He turned his back on the woman and faced the gathered elders."As First Medjai I command you release the body of Ardeth Bay into the company of His Chosen."

Silence descended in the room and the Elders looked at each other.They looked perplexed and for a moment he felt sorry for them.

"Look, I didn't wanna have to do that," he said, "but truly… this is the only way to counter this thing.From what my wife has read and understood about that prophesy, Ardeth is our only hope of stopping this."He turned to the Elder that had met him when they had first gathered at the oasis after learning about Ardeth's demise."You told him yourself, he was destined to die – and you were right… just that it's not in his destiny to stay that way.This whole damn thing has been some cleverly orchestrated…"

He stopped, struggling for words to explain what he suddenly felt in his heart was the absolute truth.

"Go on," the Elder prompted him.

"… I don't know.Some pattern that events have been following.A mirror of something that happened before.Like someone was trying to put something right that had gone horribly wrong for them…"

"That someone is the God Seth.Suti and Seth are one and the same, as are Usert and Isis, and Asar Saa and Osiris." Evie's voice interrupted from the doorway of the meeting tent.He cringed.It was a terrible break in protocol."I've just deciphered the rest of the text – the text that had been destroyed by Nefertiri in Seti's time."

"How?" he asked, turning and gesturing for her to come forward.She held up the bracer that had been in Ardeth's possession.

"It was reproduced on this." She said."The Usertim weren't trying to create the God Horus out of Anck-Su-Namun to make a utopian society…they were trying to construct a safeguard against the sistrum falling into the wrong hands and being used… even back then they feared it."

"I do not understand." The Elder held out his hand and she gave the bracer into his frail looking fingers.

"The part of the Legend that everyone leaves out – because Seth tried to destroy all reference to it before Horus destroyed him – was that in agreeing to grant Isis one last night with her consort Osiris so she could bear him a son that might avenge his father's death, the other gods built in a balance.There must be balance in the universe… and once something has been created, even by gods it cannot be truly destroyed.So Isis made the sistrum as an instrument to channel the power she was given to raise Osiris… and the other gods decreed that were it ever used again Seth would be returned to the Earth so that he might redeem himself."

"But Seth was a God of Evil."

"Chaos, not evil, not then at least." Evie corrected them."But because of the bitterness he felt toward Isis and Her Son, he became the embodiment of everything that opposes good.He recreated himself a God of Evil and mayhem.If he were ever to walk the Earth again, everything we know of good, and order and right will cease to exist under his tyranny.So the Usertim tried to bring forth Horus, so that he might guard against the return of Seth."

"All a wonderful lesson in Ancient Egyptian theology and myth, but what does it have to do with my brother."Karida folder her arms and turned to face Evie.Rick bristled, but then relaxed and smiled when Evie matched the Medjai woman's pose and expression.

"Seth was sealed inside that shrine… trapped in his own statue by the combined power of the Usertim and Medjai…Oh I know what you're thinking, that the Medjai in and of themselves have no access to divine power – but I've been talking to Rashid… your own legend of the creation of the Medjai name your ancestors as descended from Horus…_you own legends name you as such, and the First Medjai as Horus to Pharaohs Ra."_

"Oh… my… God!" Rick suddenly caught on to what Evie was saying."Ardeth…"

Evie nodded."When I lived as Nefertiri, the first Medjai was named Sekhemkare.He was in love with a Usertim woman called Asru and they had a son…Kem never lived to see his son grow.He died – mostly of a broken heart – after he believed he had to exile all Usertim for what everyone thought they did to Pharaoh, but before he died he named his son… he named him for the star that raises first and always guided travellers in the dark…Bay – First Rising Sun.Ankhefenamun Bay._He that guards the life of Amun, the First Rising Sun.That child started Ardeth's line… a divine line, descended as it was from the union of a First Medjai out of the line of Horus, and a woman of the line of Isis and Osiris."_

"Osiris?" Rick spun round on the spot, and narrowed his eyes.

"Asru's father…" Evie swallowed."Imhotep was Asru's father."

"What!"

Rick stepped forward as Karida spat the word and put himself between the two women.

"There's no point in getting upset about something you can't change.There was no reason for Imhotep to lie about that, and it makes sense of a lot of things."She sighed."So if you want to stop Anck-Su-Namun from creating a hell on Earth, you need to let us take Ardeth's body to the temple of the Gods and raise him… because so help us…Ardeth… is… Osiris _and Horus."_

**

She wept bitterly and wrapped her arms around herself against the cold of the darkened room._What had she done?_

Jonathan was lost…

She rubbed the bruises where he had held her by the arm and toyed with and teased her into believing he would visit all manner of torture on her.In the end the torment had only been in her mind – but faced with the bitter and evil power of the God that was in possession of Jonathan's body her terror had been real enough.

She looked down at herself, hating what she was wearing, and would have ripped it from her body had she not already been colder than she ever thought were possible and still be alive.

How long until dawn?How long until this nightmare ended?

_And I will not permit thee to be hewn in pieces. I come to do violence to thy foe, but I will not permit violence to be done unto thee. I protect thee._

An ache in her left arm accompanied the voice in her head.She turned her hand and saw the mark that Anck-Su-Namun had given her glowing brightly as if with an internal light.

"Leave me alone!" she cried clutching at her wrist as though she could somehow stop the sign from infecting her with anything.

_…not permit violence to be done unto thee… only admit me and I will protect thee…_

"No," Meiri whispered, curling herself over in a corner of the room, trying to get as far away from the world as she could be.

**

It had been a tempestuous sunrise.The sky was black and bruised like the hearts and emotions of the Medjai inhabiting the oasis.He didn't understand the many words that were flying back and forth across the camp, but the tone was unmistakeable.Many did not believe it was right for their First Medjai to be retuned – or were perhaps fearful of the disappointment… believing it would not work while at the same time hoping that it would.

He smiled sardonically and shook his head, turning to fix his attention on the small party travelling to the temple along with the body that was being transported on a hastily constructed stretcher secured between two camels.It was wrapped in heavy white linen to help protect it from the desert sun and winds.

"Nefertiri," he called."You must approach from the west, for that way lies Tuat."

"Thank you," she smiled at him.

He inclined his head only slightly, maintaining the smile."Remember all I have told you," he advised.He watched as they rode of, almost feeling a pang of regret, but then he shrugged and added quietly, "You will need it."

All too soon they were prodding him and pushing him toward the tent in which he was to be held, guarded until the others returned and then his fate would be decided.At least that is what Nefertiri had told him.

As the tent flap closed behind him and he heard the Medjai guards take their position outside, the slight smile on his face became a more sincere one.They might think they could decide his fate, but he had other plans.He reached into his robes and took out the small gold bell that he had retrieved the night before…

_He sat cross legged in quiet meditation – waiting.He was used to waiting and his patience had not suffered through the thousands of long years of it.He listened to the sounds around him growing less and less as the oasis settled down for the night._

__

_As the quiet reached its peak he climbed to his feet and taking a deep breath raised his arms in supplication to his gods."Sweet Loving Sister Nephthys – for the sake of our son Apnu – cover me once more with your body of night."_

__

_A moment passed and then he walked quietly and confidently toward the door of the tent and slipped through.He stood to the side, watching in confusion as the two Medjai guards glanced at each other as though they had felt something.They spoke rapidly, urging each other to go into the tent, to check on their prisoner, but spooked, neither one moved._

__

_Imhotep smiled and walked away._

__

_It did not take him long to reach the tent in which he knew she slept.Silent still he slipped inside._

__

_They were sleeping, wrapped up in each other's arms.They looked so peaceful, so much in love.The thought sent a wave of anger flashing through him that he had to pause to quell.It would do him no good to waste that energy now.He would need it when he faced the woman that had claimed to love him, but had merely used him._

__

_Carefully he knelt at Nefertiri's side and brushed the hair away from her neck until he could find the leather that he knew held the bell.She murmured at the touch and nuzzled at her husband, whose arms tightened around her._

__

_Carefully he pulled on the leather until the bell slipped out from under the clothing she was wearing.His dexterous fingers carefully unfastened the knot, removed the bell and then refastened the knot.Only one more thing remained… returning the charm into her clothing.It would do him no good if he were discovered before he was ready to act._

__

_She tuned her head, and some of her hair fell across her cheek.Carefully, he reached out a hand and pushed it back behind her ear.Again she murmured, but this time turned onto her back._

__

_Moving with all the caution he could muster he lifted the front of the loose cotton gown and slipped the still warm charm until it nestled between her breasts, letting his fingers linger for a second over her heart, feeling its beat against his fingertips before he withdrew the touch._

__

_"Such a heart, Nefertiri," he murmured, before pulling up the blanket to cover her and the man she loved.Then he stood silently and returned, with the bell – and control of his own destiny – in his possession._

Such an innocent looking item to control so much and in tandem with its sisters to channel so much power…He turned it over in his hand, careful to keep it from sounding.So much power that he now controlled – for everyone needed this one last bell.

He thought for a moment of the danger towards which he had sent Nefertiri and her party.She believed she had the bell and would be able to use the sistrum to awaken the Medjai from death, for him to be reborn into his destiny.He shrugged.No matter.He would be there before them._He would be the one to assemble the sistrum to take the power of Seth for himself and finally…__ finally rebalance the incredible wrong that had been done to him through the long centuries._

A sound reached his ears and he came instantly alert and out of his dark contemplations.It was the sound of steel on steel – men shouting… a battle.

He frowned and climbed to his feet.This was wrong.This was not in his vision of the way things would happen.Irritated he threw back the door of the tent and looked on the chaos that was raging around him.

Huge supernatural warriors, half man, half serpent were slicing their way through surprised Medjai defences… they were heading for the tent that had until recently housed the body of the First Medjai.

"So," he said aloud, but to himself. "You finally understand the danger Anck-Su-Namun."

A young warrior nearby yelled something at him.There was fear in the man's voice and he could see that even with the number of Medjai there were in the camp, they were badly outnumbered, and without their fighting spirit, not faring terribly well.

He would not allow her to destroy his chance to vindicate himself.He smiled wickedly in the direction of the young and terrified Medjai.If she wished to fight, then so be it – fight she would… and in keeping her warriors busy with their fight at the oasis, it would make his task of slipping unnoticed into the very heart of her tiny little empire so much the easier.

He closed his eyes to centre himself and then slowly, with palms facing outwards, rising slowly, he chanted the words of his prayers.Behind and all around the Warriors of Suti, clouds of sand whirled and danced, little dust devils that tormented the serpentine creatures with jabs and thrusts of their own in counterpoint to the wild slashing attacks that the enraged creature, separated from their enemies, were making.They would be held, he thought, for long enough so that the Medjai could regroup, could once again find their spirit – or at least their normally flawless organisation – and deal with them.

Conjuring one more whirling dust cloud to cover his own escape, he made for the edge of the oasis, where he once again used Osirian magic to begin his own journey… a rapid flight toward the Temple of the Gods.

**

Hot, tired, and feeling dreadfully sick, Evie grew more and more agitated as they neared their destination.Even though it was well into the afternoon, the sky hand not lightened.There was a strange kind of brooding in the air that felt hotter than hell… hotter even than if the relentless desert sun had been beating down on them.

Idly she began to fiddle with the leather around her neck; disturbing the charm nestled between her breasts and making it sit uncomfortably, pressing against the soft, sensitive flesh there.

Sighing she tugged on the thong and pulled the charm and the bell…

"Oh my god, no!" she gasped, pulling up on the reins of her horse to stop it.She pulled out the front of her blouse and started peering down as best she could.

"Evie?" Rick asked.

She looked up to find him smiling at her.In the back of her mind she knew it must have looked comical, her trying to peer down her own blouse, but panic was churning her stomach.She didn't answer.She just threw herself off her horse and started jumping up and down, and shaking her culottes, looking at the sand around to see if anything had dropped out.

"Evie," this time when she looked up Rick wasn't smiling any more, but in the process of getting off his horse."What's wrong?"

"The… the… the bell!" she stammered."It was here…" she held out the charm."With this.Ardeth put it on here…and now it's gone.It's not there it…"

"Honey, calm down." He took her by the shoulders and kissed her forehead, but she could feel the tension in his body."Panicking is not going to help anyone."

"Rick, If I've lost it…" she started, her eyes filling with tears.

"Then we'll find it," he said calmly.He reached for the leather beneath her hair."This was knotted right?"

"Yes."

"Well then it didn't just fall off, and dancing round in the desert is not going to find it."He drew her closer again, he words gently spoken."Evie it isn't safe for us to stay here, it's too close to the Temple.There could be anyone out there."

"If it didn't _fall off Rick where is it?"_

"The knot is still fastened, Evie," he said."Trust me the bell didn't fall off, it was _taken off…"_

"And I think I can guess by whom," Rashid made them both jump as he joined them on the sand.Evie followed the direction of his gaze.

The whirlwind of sand travelled swiftly and directly toward the Temple.It was horribly familiar, and Evie remembered travelling in such a sickening spin toward Hamunaptra almost ten years previously.

"Imhotep," she breathed.

**

Resting…It was resting but not gone.

But even so it gave him back a modicum of control over his own body.He was not sure he wanted it.Memories came flooding back – of the fear in Meirionnydd's eyes… of the sound of her screams… of the feelings of arousal in wanting to hurt her.

He shuddered, and started looking around for a weapon – anything he could use.His hands still throbbed.They were still curled like claws, so he doubted his ability to hold anything very much and certainly not the large gold bladed, obsidian handled sword that he recognised from the chamber below the shrine.

But maybe he wouldn't have to hold it for long… maybe he could just pull it down from its stand and hold it up long enough to throw himself onto the blade.He sighed, tired… deathly tired.

A footstep shuffled behind he and he spun round and with a slight cry stepped back against the wall as he came face to face with the bronzed and smiling face of Imhotep.

"I wondered where you were?" he said, drawing himself up to his full height but still small against the taller man's frame and still backing away."Still running around after your girlfriend I see."

"Give it to me." Imhotep spoke to him and it took him several moments to realise what he meant.

"Yes," Suddenly he saw hope and stopped backing away from the advancing High Priest of Osiris.He even pulled open his shirt for the other man to reveal the pendant."Yes please, take it!" he said.

"What trick is this?" Imhotep stopped walking.

"No," Jonathan moaned, "It's no trick.It's just… I can't…"

He raised his hands to show Imhotep the results of his almost constant attempts to remove the amulet.Moving them hurt.It sent new waves of pain throbbing up his arms and through his chest.

"It won't let me.Please, take it…" he wailed.

**

_Awake my child, my daughter… you must go._

The touch on her fevered brow was cool, soothing and full of love and life that had been so sorely missing in recent days.Tears began to well up in her closed eyes and escape from beneath her lids and bathe her face.

_Arise and come unto me…It is time._

The gentle brush of lips removed the tears from her face.They were a gentle balm against the harshness of the words that had weighted her heart and brought her back to this living nightmare.

_You are exactly where you are supposed to be…I will ease your pain._

Something incredibly soft settled around her shoulders, like feathers and warm from the heat of a body that drove away the chill that had seeped into her bones and stole the strength and hope from her grieving soul.

_For behold… I have been with you from the beginning._

Meirionnydd's eyes snapped open and already she was moving backwards.She expected to see someone crouching in front of her.There was no one there.She thought for a moment that it must have been a dream, and then she moved her arms.The caress was soft against her barely clothed body.She looked down at the short feathered cloak that was fastened around her shoulders and her arms, a part of the clothes that Anck-Su-Namun had forced her to wear.Sitting, she stretched out her arms to either side of her body and tilted up her head.

In that moment, without any doubt in her mind she knew she had not dreamed, but had been visited by something… someone… and that she needed to get to the temple.She climbed to her feet and set out through the door of the room.Her guards did not move.

**

His hands almost closed around the pendant but as his fingertips touched the smooth obsidian the small man before him struck with such strength that he fell back under the force of the blow.

"You think to take me so easily."The voice that came from the pale man's lips alarmed Imhotep.If Seth had already manifested in the world then he was already too late.But the man's behaviour before said otherwise…Seth might be controlling the body now, but he was not fully awakened.The sistrum had not been used as it might have been, to strengthen his presence.There was still hope that his plan for restitution could be executed.

"I seek only to serve you, my Lord," he answered.

"If such is what you seek…" Seth reached around behind him and pulled his sword from the stand onto which it had been placed.He held it out, with the tip aimed at Imhotep's chest.

Imhotep stood his ground, unsure of the God's intent."That body is not suitable for you, Lord Seth," he began slowly."He is unskilled, unwilling… weak…"

"And you think you are stronger?" Seth pressed the point of the blade into Imhotep's flesh.He called to one of the serpent warriors that guarded the doorway of the temple's main chamber in which they now stood."Give him your blade," he commanded.

Without question the serpent warrior handed over the heavy khopesh he carried, and with a wave of Seth's hand, crumbled to a pile of red sand on the chamber floor.

"Prove to me your worth," he commanded."If you can take me from this body, then you may be my… servant."

Almost before he had finished speaking Seth launched himself at Imhotep.He barely managed to get the Khopesh up in time to block the swing that was clearly aimed for his head.

"Unskilled?" Seth taunted and came on with a fresh volley of strikes that Imhotep countered.

He struck alternately high and low, a classic fighting style.Imhotep watched, measured and countered, conserving his strength for the moment when he could strike and defeat the man possessed by the spirit of the god.

He was good.Seth was right the man was either not as unskilled as he suspected, or Seth guided his hand more than Imhotep wanted to admit._Unwilling…_

The smile returned to the High Priest's face.

"Fight, little man," he hissed, swinging the khopesh in a strike of his own."Remember who you are and fight!"

He struck a second time, and again and again watching the man's eyes for any sign that the control, the possession was fading, even a little.

"Think of your sister," he said when he saw the moment he had been waiting for.Again he struck, this time locking blades with the superior weapon held in the hands of the God-Possessed man.

"Unwilling…" he smirked into the face of the god, fighting to keep the pressure against the blade that was pushing against him with surprising strength.

This would be the test, locked together with the god – and with the man, it would be a battle of wills.He had to hope that the little man before him would fight the intrusion and push away the God's domination long enough for His strength to wane.Then he would be able to get a hand away from the khopesh and onto the charm, to pull it free and defeat the body that fought with him for the possession of the soul that now inhabited it.

"But not so weak!"Seth bunched every muscle in the body he controlled and launched Imhotep across the room.He rolled to a jarring halt against the far wall and sighed as he scrambled to his feet.Why was nothing ever easy?

**

"Looks like we're going to have to fight our way in."Rick scrambled back to where the dozen Medjai waited."But the good news is that there are only about six or seven of them…"

"This is good," Rashid interrupted.

"On the outside."He gave the Medjai warrior a lopsided grin."No telling about what we might meet on the inside."

"When we were here before there were hundreds of them." Mahmoud said somewhat nervously."Where are they all now?"

Rick tried to keep his face neutral and sound matter of fact."The sand was very… um… there was a pathway leading out of the camp.Looks like they headed out," he cleared his throat, "somewhere."

"The oasis," Rashid breathed in horror and started to turn away to go back to the horses.

Knowing he had totally messed up the "casual" and alarmed the Medjai with his avoidance, Rick spun around and caught his arm."Rashid, listen to me.They're gonna be okay, all right?They have the whole of the rest of the First Tribe's warriors there and the forces from the other tribes.They'll be okay."

Rashid still strained against his grasp."They are our family, O'Connell."

"They'll be fine," he said."And they have the reinforcements coming.If that _is where_ they went, the whole place will be teeming with so many Medjai they'll be outnumbered at least three to one.Our priority has to be getting Ardeth inside that thing and finding Meiri."

Still holding Rashid's arm in one hand he pointed in the direction of the temple with the other.With a deep breath, the Medjai nodded.

"All right," he said.

"Okay, "Rick let go of his arm."Tarek, Rashid, you're with us.Mahmoud, you lead the rest of those guys over that ridge and take out as many of those warriors as you can.Once we're inside… well then we find Meiri and do what we have to do.I need you guys to cover us… make sure we're not disturbed, okay?"

"We will not fail you, O'Connell," Rashid placed a hand briefly onto Rick's shoulder, before he turned to his life long companions."Yallah nimshe!"

**

At the bend in the stairs she stopped and wondered what on Earth she was trying to do.There was a guard at the top of the stairs, only one, but it was a guard none the less, but again she walked past without even a hint that he had even noticed she was there.

The chamber was deserted.Her eyes skimmed around the walls to make sure that there was no one there, but only the shadowed statues flickered in the torch light reflected off the gold and gems that adorned them.

The sistrum, unguarded, save for its own power to draw the life energy from its wielder, sat atop the main altar.Meiri understood that this was why Anck-Su-Namun did not have it with her.She understood too why it was that she had allowed her to hold it so freely.Anck-Su-Namun was tired from the constant contact she'd had with the magical artefact.

She had no mastery over it.It had mastered her and until it was complete, Anck-Su-Namun would be at risk from it.This was why she had introduced the item to Meiri's delicate hand – as a defence against the constant draining of her own life's energy.All this she understood from the touch of the gentle mind that had awoken her.

Her footsteps took her around the central dais, and when she had crossed the half way point, when it no longer obscured the other side of the room, she saw him lying on the stone floor, face down.

She felt a pang of sorrow in her heart, an echo of the one in her mind and started to go to him and then she felt the other… behind her.She stopped and turned to face him.

He was tall, handsome, with dark robes hanging decorously over his bronzed and muscled frame.On his face he wore a smile of amusement that lit his dark eyes in a confident and superior way.One of his hands was outstretched toward her, and in the other he held a small, golden bell.

"Iw ni, saht neti khahtyi.Peh ni hehr ibt henah sekem-medwt."His voice was rich and deep, almost gentle and seductive, though she did not understand the words.She concentrated hard, trying somehow to find meaning.

Iw to me, saht neti heart."Somewhere in the words she began to make out some that made sense.She concentrated still further."Peh to me hehr mind henah sekem-medwt."

"Again," she said barely above a whisper.

"Come to me, heart's daughter."Her concentration wavered for a moment and she lost meaning of the beginning of the second phrase."Peh to me hehr mind and you will understand."

"I cannot," she said.

"You can," he answered.It shocked her that suddenly she could hear his words, translated somehow."Reach out with your mind and you will understand.We are of the same blood you and I. Come to me, heart's daughter."

"No," she shook her head and backed away.

"I will not harm you," he said, stepping closer and starting around the dais."I bring you that which you seek."

He held out the hand containing the bell, both hands now outstretched in her direction.

"I do not seek it.Anck-Su-Namun wants its power for herself.I seek only to destroy this thing of evil.Who are you?" she backed away, keeping the dais between the two of them as much as she could.

"A thing of power, not of evil," he corrected."I am Imhotep, High Priest of Osiris and father to the woman whose office you now command."

"You…"She stopped moving."You were Asru's father?My ancestor?"

"I am," he said and stepped up to stand before her."Take the bell and complete the sistrum, child."

"Why?" Her trembling fingers reached up to take the bell from his hand.

"Because I would have you use it," he said his voice suddenly chilling as he pulled an obsidian and gold amulet from his robes and slipped it over his head."And awaken in me the power of a second God."

Her eyes flickered to the body on the floor of the temple and her sorrow increased._At least now he has the peace he craved._


	16. To Touch a Pure Heart

Power Is

Chapter 16 

As one, the serpentine warriors turned to face the oncoming Medjai, matching the battle cries with hissing growls of their own.Evie cringed in the face of the deadly intent as they raised their blades, joined as they were by four more of their unearthly brothers from within the temple.

She reached beside her for the blade at Tarek's back.He was carrying Ardeth's body.She had to make sure they got inside, because the Medjai could not defend himself.Across from her, Rick raised his borrowed scimitar – it bore the shape of a striking hawk that made the handle of the blade – to defend his other side and ahead of them, his lungs echoing the war cry of his fellow warriors, Rashid led the way.

Sparks lightened the furious mood of the unnatural darkness as sword and scimitar, scimitar and khopesh clashed in wild desperation.

"Evie!" Rick cried a warning to her and instinct brought her hand, holding the long, curving knife up to meet the blade descending toward her head as the nearest warrior lashed about at her, obviously perceiving her to be the weak link.Her arm ached and then a wave of numbness swept along in its wake as she countered the strike.The creature's strength was as unnatural as its body and she tightened every muscle in her body to hold it back, folding her free hand protectively over her stomach.

A blur of movement in front of her became a shower of red sand as Rick swept across in front of her, coming to the side of the creature and relieving it of its head.

"Come on," he said somewhat breathlessly and took her hand to all but pull her into the temple.She glanced behind to see a wall of black form across the doorway.She shook her head. They had to trust the Medjai to keep out any interference that might have threatened the rite they intended.

Her stomach lurched.First they had to retrieve the bell from Imhotep and then convince a grieving woman that her love has power and that power could turn back the tide of death and decay that had hold of Ardeth's body.

"Which way do we go?"

She hadn't even noticed they had fought their way to a landing at the top of flight of wide, black marble stairs.The landing was a crossroads.She felt it as a metaphor, symbolic of her own life.

Quickly she cast her eyes over the hieroglyphics lined in gold around the walls.Her lips moved rapidly, silently as she tried to decide, but then something caught her eye.In the lintel holding up the ceiling, the figure of a woman, her body arched in a curve – like a black rainbow.

"Nephthys…" she breathed, and without waiting for the men, she started up the stairs that led to the right.

Rick caught her arm."What… Are you sure it's this way?"

She nodded and said, "Nephthys helped Isis to raise Osiris.This leads up to her chamber I think."

"I thought Nephthys was Seth's wife?" Rick pulled her back until she was just behind his shoulder."Why would she help?" She gave him a very strange look."You can't live in our house without picking up _some stuff about Egyptian Gods.You and Alex are always talking about it."_

"Well," she started in her best didactic voice."The thing is… Nephthys was also in love with Osiris and…"

"Ssshhh!" Rick silenced her with a sharp sound.In the silence she could hear the gurgling, hissing growl that was the breath sound of the hideous creatures that still guarded the temple."I'd say you chose the right way," he whispered.

A touch on her arm almost made her jump and she bit back a cry of alarm.Tarek gently eased her further back from Rick toward where he had placed Ardeth on one of the steps.She nodded, understanding, and took the knife he gave back to her to go and stand guard over the fallen Medjai.

**

The power flowed through her arm and ached a burning path to her heart as she lifted the sistrum from its place on the altar.

"What… why do you need it?" Meirionnydd asked."Osiris… isn't he enough for you?"

"My Lord, Aesir grants the power I use as his High Priest.His brother would give me the strength to right the many wrongs the centuries have seen."

"I thought they were enemies."She tugged at the cradle until it separated from the handle of the sistrum, allowing her to slip the final bell into place.

"Rivals perhaps… they were a balance – light and dark."

"You're trying to confuse me.This doesn't feel right."

_Trust in your feelings…_

__

"I do not attempt to confuse you, my child." Imhotep moved close behind her and swept her hair away from her neck.He ran the back of his fingers over the soft skin there… it made her shudder, but she could not move away."You know the truth of it… in your head if not your heart."

"I don't…" she whispered.

"Light cannot exist without the dark… and each time you strike a light, you create a shadow.When there is balance, all is well."

"There is no balance here," Meiri turned to face him, pushing at his shoulders to put some distance between them."There is only darkness.Anck-Su-Namun has used this power for only hate and pain and death."

Both she and Imhotep looked around toward the door as steel clashed against steel in the stairwell outside.She felt his hands around her face as he turned her back and saw an almost urgent expression shining from his eyes.

"Let me _be that balance," he said and leaned in to press a fatherly kiss on her forehead, before almost literally melting into the shadows behind the altar._

Confusion…She felt as though she had a nest of hornets buzzing around in her head.All the pain and hate that Anck-Su-Namun had shown her…All the fear and pain that she had felt… and all the darkness and fear that she had been shown that kindled the hate in her heart and had brought her here – back to this place and to Anck-Su-Namun who had awaited her return as though she had known it would happen.

He promised her balance.Comfort for the pain… love against the hate… light to pierce the dark and soothe the fear.She knew he could.She felt it in his heart as his eyes had held hers.Yet still, as she turned back to the dais, to the sistrum still in two pieces there, she felt the whirl of doubt that stirred her stomach and grasped her beating heart.

The Medjai feared him.She turned her head to cast her gaze on the body on the floor of the chamber.He had killed to take that amulet from Jonathan.Did the end justify the means of that?By what right did she judge?And what of Ardeth…?The power of the god that Imhotep asked for her to give to him had taken his life.What then of Ardeth?

A twist of her wrist brought cradle and handle together, the bells ringing lightly, filling the chamber with their sound.The torches flared in recognition of the divine power and died away again as the sound faded.Meirionnydd stood very still, the Ankh shaped artefact held before her chest like some royal sceptre and closed her eyes.

**

"Jonathan!"

With a cry of grief, Evie raced across the gilded chamber toward the body of her brother and threw herself down beside him.She snatched him up into her arms and rocked with him, devastated… stricken.

"Jonathan… no!" she moaned, her body starting to shake with the sobs that rose inside her.

"Evie, let him go." Rick reached her side, "Put him down."

"No."

"Honey, there's nothing you can do." Rick's voice caught on the words and she looked up at him then from the deathly pale face of her brother.

"Oh Rick."Tears rose to mean the sobs that shook her frame and wet her face.

"I know, baby." She saw him swallow hard."I know."

Reluctantly she laid Jonathan back against the cold stone of the chamber floor."He always looked out for me," she whispered, pushing his hair back from his face.

"We gotta keep going, Evie," Rick told her, tears in his eyes to match her own.

"Yes."She swallowed and nodded."We have to…"

She looked up to find Tarek and Rashid watching her, standing in the doorway still with Ardeth's still wrapped body at their feet.Both wore expressions of deep regret.She had to look away and her eyes found Meirionnydd.She was still standing, as she had been when they first reached the doorway, her eyes closed, the sistrum held like an Ankh, motionless in her hands.

"Meiri…" she started, climbing to her uncooperative feet."Meiri please open your eyes.Look at me."

"You came then." Meiri answered.She sounded tired and bitter."Decided that I was somehow a threat?"

"What?" Nothing she could have said would have surprised Evie more than she did with her question."No… we came as soon…."

"Soon?" Meiri opened her eyes and turned her head Evie's way."It was days.I was under his protection and it was days before any of you even _thought to come and find me."_

"That is not true," Rashid started, but Evie held up her hand and he stopped speaking.

"Meiri, we didn't know what to do," she said."We had to be sure…"

"And in the mean time you let your brother _suffer as he did."Evie winced at the pain both in Meiri's voice and in her own heart as Jonathan's ordeal was described."What kind of people __are you?I came back here because I had nowhere left… because the Medjai hated me so much… __blamed me for his death."_

"We did not," this time Rashid would not be silenced."Karida was hurting, she did not truly understand what she was saying or the effect it would have on…"

"I loved him more than _life," she almost screamed into the silent chamber."And you blamed __me… banished me from his side.I had nowhere else to go, but he…"She swept her arm in the direction wherein lay Jonathan's body."He needed…"_

As she moved her arm the bells sounded clear and loud in the silence.Again the torches flared in recognition of the power awakened in the sound, but this time as the when the sound of the bells faded, a sibilant hiss began to echo around the walls.

_Har ya… har ya… har ya…_

"Meiri, no!" Evie cried out."You have to keep it still… please!"

Meiri's face mirrored the alarm in Evie's voice and she guessed that the younger woman must have heard and felt the echo round the walls, and perhaps something stronger from where she held the sistrum.

"Why?What did I do?"

"Meiri, listen to me." she came to stand within inches of the girl."The sistrum is the same one Isis used to raise Osiris from the dead.If it's done in love it can be used that way.Used in anger or in _any other way and you'll wake one of the most vicious, chaotic and evil gods of Ancient Egypt."_

"No," Meiri moved again to push at her."You're trying to trick me…"

"Why would we?" Evie clasped both hands around the bells on the sistrum to silence their voice that was filling the air with the dangerous sound of their voice, of Her power.

"You hate me… and you blame me too…"

Evie snatched the sistrum from Meiri's hand and placed it down on the dais then turned and slapped her face.Meiri sobbed and pressed her hand against her face.

"You can give Ardeth back his life." Evie said, her voice a measured whisper."Your love can bring him back."

She nodded to Rashid and Tarek to bring Ardeth's body to the dais.Carefully they lifted it and placed it on the top of the stone bier, before unwrapping it.Seeing him again, so pale, so grey in the sleep of death ,brought fresh tears to Evie's eyes and as if he knew what she was thinking Rick came to stand behind her and wrapped her in his arms.

"Meiri," she said.

With a sob, Meiri had turned away the moment her eyes fell on his lifeless face."I don't know what to do," she whispered."What to believe…"

_Believe in your love…_

**

He heard the words as though they were a dream, hanging between the worlds as he was.He tried to move, but the pain… the pain of it screamed through his body and burned at his soul.

"What do I do?" Meiri's voice whispered the words of her question and he opened his eyes.The light made them hurt, but it barely mattered against the pain of moving, of dragging his body from where it lay on the ground, to his knees facing the huge statue of Isis that graced the main altar.So fresh from the damning possession of Seth spirit he knew exactly what he had to do.

"Well," When Evie spoke he almost forgot his purpose and looked at his sister, but with the dreadful knowledge of what would happen were she to get it wrong he had to act.He let his concentration slip away from the sound of his sisters voice… raised up his face to the eyes of the statue and spoke in a halting voice.

"Isis, Lady of magic and Mother of the Divine Sun, descend I pray you into our world."

**

The voice was halting but unmistakably human and Meiri turned her head to see Jonathan, struggling to stay on his knees facing the statue that for some reason she had not noticed.

She turned, only half listening to the voices behind her.The woman was beautiful, with long hair, flawless skin and coloured cloak of gold and silver round her feminine but strong shoulders.

"Jonathan!" She heard the footsteps that carried Evie to her brother's side.

"You have to help me Evie," he gasped. "Help me to help her… she can't get this wrong… Seth would…"

"I know Jonathan, I know…"

The eyes of the statue captured hers, and of her own volition she raised her arms, spread them wide to mirror the attitude of the statue.

"Descend, we pray you," Evie and Jonathan spoke together, "Into the body of this, your servant and Priestess…"

_"They ask that I come to you daughter… but what would you have me do?"_

__

_"__Isis__?"_

__

_The figure in front of her smiled._

__

_"Are you truly __Isis__?You don't look like a Goddess.Who are you?"_

__

_"As I have always told your love, I am the beauty and life in the green oasis, the white moon among the starts that gives light on the darkest night; she that is with you as with all women; who watches over you but is a part of your also."_

__

_"You name me as a part of you, as yours but I don't know you." Meiri said."How do I know this is not some kind of…?"_

__

_"Search your heart… trust in your love."The beautiful woman walked around her and took her hand to draw her to stand closer to the dais, looking down at the lifeless Medjai that she loved so much."He is so young… so much left to give… but it has to be yours, the decision, the choice…Is your love so strong that you will bind your life with his and bring him home…?"_

She blinked and found she had not moved at all.She found that she was still standing with her arms outstretched, breathing deeply trying to calm the beating of her heart… a heart which spoke to her of her deepest desire.All she needed to do was surrender.

"Descend I pray you," she whispered."Help me."

**

He could never afterward describe what happened in the following moment, only that a stream of light appeared to pour from the statue toward where Meirionnydd stood mirroring Her position, for at the same moment all strength failed him and he fell back against his sister, breathing hard and moaning in the pain that was returning to his tortured body.

Meirionnydd threw back her head and screamed and ululating cry of pain and grief and loss.It pulled at his aching heart and filled his eyes with tears.He had caused this; it had been his hand that held the knife.

"Oh God, Evie," he sobbed and she wrapped herself around him, rocking him with tears of her own falling against his hair.

"Jonathan," she whispered."I thought I'd lost you."

"Cold," he shivered against her, "So cold."

One of the Medjai standing close now shrugged off an outer robe and handed it to her.She covered him with it, holding him closer as he returned his attention to the small, slight woman shining with the power of the Goddess Isis.

She took up the sistrum as her keening cry ended and flicked her wrist to send its voice spinning into the eerie silence.The whispering threat descended on the room again, but was silenced in the ringing, almost musical voice that came from Meiri's lips.

"I come to you hewn in pieces. Lament Oh Egypt for he is lost to me.I have not been hewn in pieces save by the loss of you.And yet I will not permit thee to be hewn in pieces. I come to do violence to thy foe, but I will permit no violence to be done unto thee. I protect thee."

"Oh my god!" Jonathan breathed, watching in amazement as the evil wound in Ardeth's side closed over as Meiri circled round the dais, keeping the voice of the sistrum in song with the rhythmic flicking of her wrist.

"Isis…!" Evie added.

"I have come to thee quickly, and I have driven back the footsteps of Our Brother whose face is hidden. I have illumined His sanctuary. I stand near on the day of repelling disaster. I watch to protect thee, Oh Osiris." A second time she circled round Ardeth's body, as Jonathan fought to stay conscious, to witness the miracle occurring before them all.

"I protect thee with this flame." Cold blue flame sprang up where she walked a third circle around the dais and Ardeth's body."I drive thine enemy away from the valley of the tomb."

Sand fell from sistrum as she walked a fourth circle, dousing the flames, "I cast the sand about. I embrace Osiris Ani, whose word is truth, in peace."

Twice more she circled, keeping the voice of the sistrum sounding and moving the air in the chamber with the feathers of the cloak she wore.

"I have come to be a protector unto thee. I waft unto thee air for thy nostrils, and the north wind which cometh forth from the gods unto thy nose. I make thee to live like a god. Thine enemies have fallen under thy feet. I have made these words to be true and thou art mighty before the gods."

As the air moved over him, in time with the beat of her winged figure, Ardeth's chest began to rise and fall as she pushed the air into his lungs with each beat.Slowly the colour began to return to his flesh.The grey tone faded, replaced by the rich, healthy olive hue.

The lights dimmed as she walked a seventh and final time around the dais.Her wings no longer beat the air into Ardeth's body and the stillness was almost agonising.Jonathan found that he and Evie were both holding their breath.

"I go round about thee to protect thee, O brother Osiris. I have come to be a protector unto thee."Meiri's voice, sing song in tone, but strong and sure she held the resonant quality as it had from the beginning of the ritual."My strength shall be near thee, my strength shall be near thee, for ever. Ra hath heard thy cry, and the gods have made my word to be truth. Thou art raised up. Thy word is truth in respect of what hath been done unto thee. Thy foes are overthrown, and thou art Horus."

A silence and darkness so intense descended on the room as the torches dimmed still more and Meiri stopped moving as she returned to stand between the dais and the altar.

Jonathan could barely see, hurt and still holding his breath, waiting to see how the ritual would end; praying harder than he ever had before that it would work, and Ardeth would return.

**

_Trust in love._

The words that Isis spoke as she departed echoed round and round in Meiri's brain.He hadn't moved.He hadn't breathed and now too all the lights had faded, adding to the tension in the room.

_Trust in love._

His wound was gone, the pallid hue of death had left his cheeks and the blue of his tattoos seemed to shine in the near darkness, but none so bright as the image of Horus that graced his space above his heart, watched over my the equally luminescent wings of Isis… Divine Mother.

_Trust in…_

An audible prolonged gasp, like that of a drowning man surfacing for air came from the centre of the darkness.The torches roared into life and light stabbed at her eyes, filling them with stinging tears.She saw Ardeth sit up suddenly and press both hands to his body, one against his side, where his wound had been and the other to his heart.

The trembling started in her legs and she was forced to lean forward against the dais, fighting for breath of her own as Ardeth's gasping, almost panicked, breath began to slow.Her head started to spin as she watched him slowly bring his legs around to lower his feet to the floor.

**

He leaned against the dais for an eternity, or so it felt, before he ran the fingers of his right hand through his hair as a prelude to standing. He did not trust the impressions his mind was giving him… only remembered the searing pain in his side, the steadily weakening, straining beat of his heart and then waking there… in the temple, accompanied by his dearest friends, and by the woman he loved.

"Meirionnydd," he breathed, barely breaking the silence with the sound of his voice.

"Ardeth," she sobbed his name, though not much louder, but it was the sweetest sound he though he had every heard.He needed to go to her… wanted to hold her and never let her go.

He pushed himself to his feet.Standing sent a rush of blood to his head and for a moment he swayed, thinking he might fall straight back down.He didn't actually feel weak, in fact he was surprised how strong he felt, just unsteady.

Movement shattered his concentration and he almost stumbled as O'Connell came to his side.Before the other man could touch him he held up his hands to stop him, gave a faint smile and a slight shake of his head to indicate that he was all right and finally turned toward Meiri.

An overwhelming wave of emotions swept over him as he approached.He fought it back.Truth was proven to him now.She _was Usertim.She had used the power of the Goddess to give him back his life and in the same moment turned his existence into a meaningless empty shell._

She was Usertim.

He wanted to find the words to express the way he felt, to make her understand, but none came.He merely stood, revealing his pain in the way he closed his eyes against the sight of her, in the dress and cloak of a priestess and bearing in her hands the sistrum… Ankh… Egyptian cross of life.

He opened his eyes in the moment she looked up at him and meeting the expression of her love and her need to be exactly where he wanted her – in his arms – he shook his head and sighed.

She began to reach for him, but didn't even make it half way before the strain of it all, the effort of channelling such energies as she must have had passing through her small frame claimed her.He lifted her unconscious form into his arms as her legs folded beneath her.

**

"Ardeth?" Rick stood exactly where he had been when he'd moved to help his friend."We need to get out of here."

The Medjai turned, cradling the unconscious woman firmly against his chest and fixed him with a steady look.His chest rose and fell in a huge sigh, but then he nodded.

"It has been a long night, my friend."He thought his heart was going to burst the first time he heard Ardeth's voice.He wanted to throw some wise crack back, but nothing came.The look in his friend's eyes, of tired bewilderment stopped him."And a while until dawn yet."

"It will be all right," he said, instead trying to give comfort.

Ardeth stepped forward and handed Meirionnydd into his arms.He turned to watch the Medjai walk across to where Evie still cradled her shivering brother in her arms.They really did need to get the hell away from the temple.

Jonathan shrank back against Evie and she tightened her arms around him.Even Rick felt unsure of what Ardeth would do as he watched him crouch beside the siblings.He almost turned to hand Meiri to one of the others in case he needed to defend his brother-in-law.

"Is he going to be all right?" Ardeth asked quietly.

"I don't know," Evie answered.Her voice trembled.

"Ardeth," Jonathan's hoarse whisper might as well have been a shout, it carried so clearly across the chamber."I'm…"

The Medjai laid a hand carefully onto Jonathan's shoulder."You have been equally wronged, Jonathan.I will hear no apology."He turned his head and spoke softly in Arabic to Rashid.

"Aiwa, Sayiidi," Rashid answered, and came to Jonathan's side at once.

"Evelyn," Ardeth took her arm and guided her, almost willing Rick thought, away from her brother."There is one more task I must ask of you.I think you know why."

They had reached the dais and stood beside where Meiri had laid the sistrum.Evie reached out, her hand hovering over the golden artefact.

"Seems such a shame," she said and looked up at Ardeth.

"It must be."He told her firmly. "Please… do it now.O'Connell is right.We must leave this place."

Ardeth stood aside, affording Rick a better view of Evie.She cautiously picked up the sistrum and gasped.

"Evie?" he asked.

"Completed, you can feel the power in it.Rick it's so beautiful." She ran her fingers over the shape of it, careful not to disturb the bells too much.

"And so dangerous." Ardeth added."Evelyn, please."

She raised the sistrum a little further and brought it down hard against the stone top of the dais.Cradle came away from handle and the bells came loose from their mountings, screaming discordantly in protest.

The Sistrum of the Goddess Isis lay once more broken on the dais in Her temple.

"What will you do?" Rick asked.

"Seven of the Medjai will guard the bells.We failed the Usertim.It is the least we can do," Ardeth answered.

"What about the rest of it?" Evie asked."Perhaps we could help... Rick?"

Rick sighed, groaning inwardly.He'd seen it coming and still hadn't stopped her, but then after everything, perhaps she was right… perhaps they could and should help.

"Sure," he said.

"Very well."Ardeth laid his hand briefly onto Evie's arm, and nodded respectfully to Rick."Perhaps when you return to England, you can take a part of it with you."

It was subtle and Rick might have missed it, if not for his sigh, but there was tired relief in the way Ardeth's body moved then.It somehow reminded him where they were, and that they needed to be away and that his friend… his best friend… probably needed rest more than anything.

And that Jonathan needed help of a more direct kind.

**

Her forces were decimated and never had she felt such anger.The moment she set foot inside the temple she knew that everything had changed.Red sand scattered around revealed that her prisoners had been freed, rescued.

She no longer felt the pull of the sistrum against her life energies… that too must have been taken.Still she had to see with her own eyes and pushed her way through her few remaining warriors up to the main chamber of the temple.

"No!" she growled, and swept the gold and silver statues to the floor in a fit of rage.

"Always such a temper Anck-Su-Namun."

She froze at the sound of the soft voice behind her, and then stiffened as she felt his warmth against her back.

"Imhotep," she said.

"I just cannot believe you were so careless… my love," he said.

The slight pause before his last two words sent shivers down her spine.He walked around to stand before her and she closed her eyes as he passed his hand over her face, as they always used to do.

She felt the sense of menace, the underlying threat in his actions, in the things he said and those things he had not said and done.

"He wanted the body," she said quietly in explanation.

"The… body… is risen.I watched him rise and now the gates are open between the worlds."He pinned her to the spot with his eyes."And now…" he raised his hands again to frame her face as he had done so very long ago.

"Now?" she breathed.Drawn by his charisma her hands came to press against the centre of his chest.

"We are together once more… and this time…"

"What about the others…?The Lord Seth?" she needed a distraction.There was something… normally she could remain detached, immune to his charm as others had failed to be… but something…

"The gates are open," he repeated."Lord Seth will walk the world again.Trust me."

Before she could voice the question that was on her lips, he captured them with him own.His hands grasped her by the upper arms, pulling her against him until her feet barely touched the ground.The tight grasp of his fingers matched by the heat of his passion in the kiss, both equally as painful… unwelcome… but once again she could feel his power.A power she could no longer match, now that she did not possess the sistrum.

"Imhotep!" she gasped and broke away from the kiss.He did not let her go.

"Come, my love.We have much to do… we must see to our defences before the Medjai return.For return they will."He buried his fingers in her hair as he led her from the temple room."And then we must undo the mistakes you have made."

**

He stood in the open doorway of the tent, gazing out over the Medjai encampment.Their return had been a joyous occasion… many hundreds of voices rose in cheers as Ardeth rode back into camp, cradling the woman he loved, sleeping now, for she had woken on the journey back until exhaustion and the gentle rocking of Marhana had lulled her back to sleep.

Evie had taken her to settle in his tent as he was caught up in the uncharacteristic demonstration of emotion from his Medjai companions, until his own tiredness had given him excuse enough to find the privacy to spend some time alone.

Now, returned to his tent, sleep evaded him.The wind blew restlessly over his naked chest, matching his mood.It chilled his body, dressed as he still was, in just the baggy pants that had been his funeral garb.He welcomed the cold.It reminded him that he was alive.

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly as he closed his eyes and ran a large warm hand across his belly, as though the ghost of his pain still troubled him.It was healed now with not a mark remaining.Restored by the same divine power that had given him back his life at the behest of the beautiful woman that had wrapped herself around his heart from the moment he had first set eyes on her… forbidden love.

He sighed again, and half turned in the doorway to regard her where she still slept on the skins that made his bed, then shifted his gaze back out on the desert horizon and the setting sun that painted the sky in reds and purples.He marvelled at the beauty of it all, and silently thanked Allah for his second chance.

**

She opened her eyes, knowing he was not close by, and saw him standing in the opened doorway, even now conscious of the fact that they were alone, unchaperoned, and making sure that he could be seen at all times.

Silently she threw off the blankets and climbed to her feet, approaching him… almost feeling her longing in each step she took.She wanted to touch him; to lay her hands on his muscled back, but as she raised her hands she caught sight of the mark on the inside of her left wrist.The mark that meant in spite of their love, thousands of years of taboo that began with a hurt and mistaken proclamation, stood between them now.Her hands hovered merely a breath away from the blue painted tattoos that graced his shoulders.

"There is so much I want to say to you, little one," he said, his quiet baritone voice the mere whisper of a caress against her senses.He did not turn. "So much I need to say, but I do not know where to begin, or how I might hope to touch as heart as pure as yours."

She sighed, and laid her head against her hands, still not touching his shoulders, but in her heart imagining she leaned against him in support of the struggles he must be experiencing.

"My love," she said quietly."You do not need to hope... because you already have."

He let go of the doorway that he held open and she backed up and let her hands fall to her sides as he began to turn.His face was more beautiful that she had ever seen in that moment when he captured her eyes with his – his expression speaking more loudly that any words he could have spoken.His longing, his need and his love all shone from the depth of his brown eyes in the dimly lit tent, but so did his confusion, his restraint and his regret.

"Meiri, we rohy – hayati, Ana…" he breathed.

"Don't…" she whispered."Only come to rest, my heart.You've been through so much."

He sighed and his expression softened into gentle certainty, and he followed her toward the sleeping area, the floor covered with soft skins.She slipped off her sandals and knelt down waiting while he pulled off his boots and also knelt, in front of her, almost, but not quite touching.His tattooed hands rested on his knees.

She felt his eyes on her face as she looked down at his hands, raising her own to trace the shape of the sacred marks in the air above his fingers.

"What makes a Medjai?" she asked, not really expecting an answer.Her hands continued their journey to the same three pronged, but longer spiked tattoos on his forearms, just above his wrists. Still she did not touch. "A state of mind… an oath… a belief…?"

"My heart," he answered, barely managing to voice the words. He was so close to her.

Her hands hovered barely a breath above his arms and she longed to let them travel the path again this time in contact with his olive, painted skin… but she would not discomfort him… and much as she longed for him, would not insult that which made him what he was… the beliefs of his heart.

She only traced the shape of his upper arms and shoulders, still not touching, her eyes fixed on the picture of Horus and Isis over his chest. Then her hands fell back into her lap as tears flooded her eyes.

"I cannot change so many generations of belief in but a heartbeat," he breathed sorrowfully."I do not know where to begin."

His own hand reached out toward her from where they still rested in his lap, to brush the air above the mark on the inside of her wrist, and over the leather that still graced her right arm.

"I only know that I love you more than my life's breath.That I am cold, and although my heart beats once more, it is an empty life without the thought of you," he continued.

His words increased the flow of her tears.She wished her tears could wash away the words that, spoken so many years before, had set the course of their self denial that so hurt the both of them now.

She raised her hands again, this time to his cheeks, and this time to gently brush the shape of the crescent tattoos there.He closed his eyes at her touch, and breathed out softly, and with barely a sound, breathed her name.

She almost jumped as she felt the warmth of his touch against her own tear wet cheeks, a gently downward sweep, until his fingertips shifted slightly and brushed against her lips.He tenderly cupped her face in the palms of his hands as though she were more precious than water in the parched desert sun.Trembling, her hands fell away from his face to land lightly on his shoulders, beside the strong pulse that beat in the side of his neck.

Slowly he leaned in closer, tilting her face upward to meet the darkened orbs that reflected his desire and love for her.She felt the heat of his lips and the warmth of his breath against her skin and then he stopped, murmuring almost sub-vocally, "I dishonoured you once, sweet angel of my heart…"

"It… was no… dishonour." She somehow found the breath to speak the words.

"But still," he said, his lips almost, but not quite touching hers as he spoke."If this continues even one moment longer – here, now… I pledge you my heart for all eternity… my heart, my soul and my strength in protection."

"Ardeth…" she gasped, taking in his breath."All that I am is already yours… mind and heart and soul…"

He barely moved, but somehow his mouth was on hers in the most tender, warm caress she could ever have imagined.The fullness of his lips coaxed hers to part beneath his, and his tongue dipped within, filling her with the taste of him, setting her heart racing until she felt light headed with the sensations kindled in his kiss.

She wound her arms around his strong shoulders as he lifted her and settled the two of them back against the soft goat skins, never once breaking from the kiss, his hair fell down around them, as if to shield them from prying eyes, although the only ones to witness the long overdue union would be the gods themselves.

As the first deep kiss came to a natural end, she reached up to run her fingers through his raven locks to push them back from his face.He nuzzled into the contact, and then turned his head to kiss the inside of her wrist.Pressing his tongue against her pulse point for a second, he sent waves of intense feelings spiralling down to awaken a longing deep within.The moment freed a river of desire that quickened the already rapid beat of her heart.

His hand settled against the soft skin of her stomach, left bare by the outfit she wore and she watched his eyes.They appeared almost hooded as he watched his touch moving tenderly over her.Her muscles trembled under his touch and she didn't need to watch to know where his fingers settled against her side, stroking in soft spirals, in spite of the hardened pads on his hands from the almost constant used of his scimitars.

He turned his gaze back up to her face and she blushed to have been caught watching him.It was ridiculous that this was what had moved her to colour more brightly that a desert sunset.He smiled softly and leaned down to once more capture her lips in a kiss that grew in passion as her timid hands, like butterfly wings, fluttered over his chest and shoulders.

She felt his muscles dance beneath her fingers and against her hip, his body responded more strongly to her touch.He heart knotted as nervous anticipation lent an edge to the brightness of the moment, that he soothed, as though he knew it were there with a succession of light kisses that travelled over her face and then settled against the tender flesh of her neck.

His tongue sensually traced the line of the vein in the side of her neck, stealing her breath as his beard further woke the sensations in the already enlivened skin, and finally, his mouth beside her ear, he whispered soft, but husky words – Arabic words – against her hair.

His fingers moved upward to bush against the underside of her breasts and she could no longer contain the sounds of her pleasure, moaning softly against his neck.He drew in a sharp breath of his own when in the next moment her lips found the space where neck and shoulder joined and she pressed light kisses of her own in response to the nips and kisses that he lavished on her neck and shoulders.Light headed, she felt lost in him.

His sure but gentle touch moved more firmly over her breasts, unfastening the few buttons that held the short blouse closed.His name, prayer like, burst from her lips as he cupped the curving flesh of her breast in his hand.

"My heart…" he whispered, his kisses descending to meet with his hand, still passing soft caresses over her breast, small spirals that moved closer and closer to the tenderness at their centre.

As his tongue brushed her nipple, and his lips closed around the tender nub she arched her back and her fingers wound their way into his hair, though whether to hold his head in place or to move the too intense touch away from her body she could never afterward be sure.She only knew that the world seemed to explode into heat and light as his tender touches continued.

Raising his head once more to capture her lips in a consuming kiss of passion he took her tiny hand in his and guided her touch down to meet with the fire of his risen desire for her.

Breathless… she was breathless with longing, with a need that was so tangible it almost turned her inside out.It was almost a physical pain that was burning deep inside her, but in the midst of her desire her heart fluttered in her chest.She doubted herself – doubted that she could be enough for him, in spite of her love… in spite of their passion.

"Meiri…"

"Ardeth…?"She looked into his eyes, trying to keep her doubt from showing, wanting so much to share this moment with him.

"You have already given so much to me. How can I ask more of you, hayati?" he breathed.

"You need not ask for something I so willingly give to you, my love," she leaned up for a moment.

Their remaining clothing proved little restraint and soon gave way to the gentle caresses that soon had them flutter to the floor of the tent.He gathered her closer, for a moment holding her skin to skin, both lying on their sides.She wrapped her arms tightly around him, hiding her trepidation in the strength of his love expressed in the way he held her.

But even that moment passed and was not enough.His hand skimmed down her back and over her buttocks and to the back of her thighs.

"You are so beautiful," he told her, kissing her gently and settling her once more back against the goat skin bed.

He kissed her fingers and laid them on his body before returning to the caress of her nakedness.His touch moved lower and she bit her lip as the light pressure of his hand parted her legs. 

The careful tender touch against her centre focussed all the feelings buzzing around her into one bright point and she gasped and moaned at once as he fingers moved between the shielding petals to touch her … to pass soft spirals around the hidden nub within.

"Touch me," he breathed into her hair, and kissed her cheek and then her neck as her head fell back under the intensity of the pleasure he was giving her.

Her fingers trailed down over the muscles of his stomach that contracted under her light touch and altered the pattern of his breathing against the side of her neck… until her fingers found the risen length of him and began a gentle, timid caress.He moaned, and then growled softly against her neck, pressing himself more firmly against her touch with a shift of his hips.

"Ardeth, please…" she gasped as feelings too intense to bear began to threaten.She felt like a spring, a fire cracker waiting to send waves of heat and cold through her body, but couldn't quite reach the moment that would give her release from the tension gathered low in her centre."I need to feel you…"

She couldn't go on, couldn't even understand what she was going to say, instead she moved her hand away from him and looked up into his eyes, deep brown with his desire.He waited… it felt like an eternity… before he gathered her beneath him, fitting himself between her parted thighs.Her breathing was uneven and her eyes started to flutter closed as she felt the heat of him pressing against her, but he stopped.

"Don't close your eyes," he whispered.

Their eyes met as he began to move again, the hot hard length of him pressing into her.The bittersweet pain bit sharply as he claimed her maidenhead and he kissed away the single tear that rolled down her cheek.

The feel of him, inside her, a part of her, was nothing she could ever have imagined, and so tightly wound, as he began to move again, stroking her with the full length of him, she soon cried out a second time as the tension exploded, releasing the pleasure and that left her trembling in his arms.

Filling with light… she felt that as she matched him breath for breath and sigh for sigh… As he alternately filled her and left her bereft, empty and wanting for the fell of his flesh inside her, she felt as though the two of them were winding the very stars into a huge bright web that fell over them, the stars dissolving into their flesh and filling them with light.She felt as though his heart was giving her life and likewise hers kept him alive.

His breathing became ragged, his movements more urgent, harder and deeper inside her.It brought her to greater heights that she would have thought possible.He gasped her name and looking up she kissed him, sending the both of them spiralling into oblivion.

He moaned into the kiss.A look of blissful agony came over his features and she felt heat flood into her as he surrendered his life deep inside her body, and in the following heartbeat lost all coherent sensation as she fell into that brightness along with him.

**

Slowly awareness returned… he felt completed, finally at peace and his eyes filled with tears at the profound, almost spiritual beauty of it.Gently he moved and gathered Meiri close against his chest, holding her tenderly as he fought to catch a hold of his breathing.

He felt her look up at him, and smiled, bending his head down to lightly kiss her.It was as though he had opened a floodgate.She began to shake with tears of her own.

If it were possible he gathered her closer still, murmuring soothing words and kissing away each tear that fell, recognising that her tears, as his, were of a release so intense that he knew in that moment without a grain of doubt that Sekhemkare had been wrong.Medjai and Usertim were meant to be together… they were two halves of a whole.

"Come home with me," he murmured, and she looked up at him, love and hope shining in her still moist eyes.

"Home?" she asked him.

"My people live at a large Oasis to the south of here," he said, feeling sleep creeping up on him."When all this is over – when the creature has been defeated – I want you there by my side… always."

She hugged him tighter than ever before and pressed a kiss over the head of the bird on his chest.

"Is that yes?"

"Where else would I go?"she asked in answer."Ardeth, I don't want to be anywhere you are not."

Sleep came swiftly for both of them.He watched her drift to her rest before he too surrendered and woke with the dawn, refreshed and alert.He turned his head to place a gentle kiss on the top of Meiri's head where she rested with her head on his shoulder.She murmured in her sleep but did not wake.He would have to wake her soon… but not yet.

For several moments he lay holding her, feeling the way her hand moved absently against his shoulder and the puff of her breath against his neck; the way she completed him and brought him peace and strength… even when sleeping.

He prayed there would be many, many days more that he would wake with her in his arms.

Sounds outside brought the awareness that the day had begun; that the Medjai were gathered and awaiting his command; awaiting the word of their First Medjai to make the attack against Anck-Su-Namun and her unholy troops.

"Meiri."He called her name softly and ran careful fingers through her hair."It is time to wake, my heart."

She surfaced slowly.He watched her eyelids flutter as she came closer and closer to wakefulness.

The first word from her lips was his name and she smiled as she opened her eyes.He smiled too and gently coaxed her to meet his gentle kiss of greeting.

**

"I don't care what he's going to say," Evie paced the length of their borrowed tent and then turned to face Rick."I'm going!"

"What if I said that _I'd rather you stayed here with Meiri?" Rick asked quietly._

"Rick," she'd seen the look a hundred times and still it almost melted her resolve… almost.But then she remembered the injuries she watched the Medjai healers tend once they'd got Jonathan into their care…

_"Evie, don't go.Please don't leave me," he begged and cried out when he tried to grab for her hand._

__

_"Jonathan, it's all right.I will be right outside and when they…"_

__

_"Please stay."_

__

_"Anti…" the Medjai nodded and pointed to her and then to the space beside her brother.With a sigh, Evie sat down, and started stroking her fingers through Jonathan's hair.The truth was, she couldn't stand to see him hurting and she was sure that, whatever the healer had to do, was going to hurt in order to heal._

__

_She wasn't wrong and it was not long before he had exhausted himself with his cries of pain as each wound on his body was cleaned and dressed.His hands were the worst.Still curled like claws where the many burns to his fingers from the supernatural heat of the amulet had seared away his skin.She wondered if he would even regain the proper use of his hands._

__

_Eventually, they too were cleaned and dressed and the healer had administered a powerful pain killing herb and he finally slept._

"He's my brother, Rick, and _no one does that to my brother and…"_

"Then let me…" Rick interrupted.Trying everything to stop her from insisting on going with them to what was bound to be, for many, a deadly battle.

"I'm going," she said firmly.

**

Stepping out into the early morning sun Rick's breath caught in his chest as he set eyes on the sea of Medjai waiting mounted for their chieftain to joint them.There must have been thousands of them and they stretched as far back as he could see.

"Dear God!" Evie voiced what he was thinking.

Spotting Ardeth, speaking with a small group of Medjai, his Chosen at the front of the gathered company of warriors he crossed toward him.Even before he was close, Ardeth turned and clasped his arm to include him in the group.

"O'Connell," he greeted him.

Ardeth looked rested, but more than that.He looked confident, almost radiant, more that any time they'd ever fought together.

"Need a hand?" he asked jauntily.

"You are always welcome at my side, my friend." Ardeth answered."And once we have defeated the enemy, we will have need of your dynamite."

"No problem," he said."So what's the plan?"

Ardeth was looking past him to Evie.He shrugged and was about to speak when Evelyn answered the expression on the Medjai leader's face for herself.

"He's already tried, and if you do, know this."She stepped up beside Ardeth and drew herself to her full height."Jonathan is my brother and Anck-Su-Namun has always been my enemy.Nothing you can say will change my mind about being there and if I don't come with you then I'll come alone."

"Once the fighting begins, we cannot protect you," Ardeth said.

"Nor would I expect it.You know I fight well enough." She nodded to him, and he to her.Rick could hardly believe what had happened.Ardeth hadn't even raised an objection.

"The main force will be engaged with the Warriors of Seth." Ardeth turned back to his explanation."That should give us the opportunity to get into the temple and find Imhotep and Anck-Su-Namun.They will undoubtedly have their toughest warriors defending them so our task will not be an easy one."

"Which is why I don't want you going," Rick tried one last time to get Evie to stay.She glared at him and he held up his hands in defeat.

"And if we find Seth before Anck-Su-Namun or Imhotep?" Rashid asked quietly.

"Then we must pray that we prevail."Ardeth answered.

Rick spotted movement beside one of the nearby tents and turned to see a Medjai woman.She was hovering almost nervously as though she wanted to approach but didn't know if she should.He was about to turn away when he realised who it was.

His eyes widened as he looked again on Meirionnydd, dressed and veiled as he had seen others of the Medjai wives.He glanced to Ardeth, and saw him smile and hold out a hand her way.

**

She stood watching as they discussed tactics.Her heart was knotted in fear, knowing he was riding into battle and not knowing if he would return safely.She glanced over at the small group of Medjai women around Karida with a newly found respect.

They did this every day of their lives; watched their husbands and brothers, their fathers and sons ride out to patrol and wait for them to come back.It was something she would have to get used to – now that she was pledged to Ardeth.

Her heart danced in a little spiral of excitement and she smoothed her hands over the dress she now wore.It was long and flowing, reaching to the floor and decorated with silver patterns and was covered with a light floor length veil that reached the ground and was weighted with silver coins that jingled as she walked.

Karida had braided her hair as she helped her to dress and her head was now covered.She was also veiled and felt that it made her somehow more beautiful… out of reach in some way.She worried that she had a lot to learn about the ways of the man that was to share the rest of her life.

He gestured to her, holding out a hand for her to come to his side.

As his Chosen began to mount, she came slowly forward.Ardeth turned as the sound carried to him.He paused in pulling up the front of his veil and smiled.

"Come back to me safely," she said quietly.

He picked up her hands in his and brought them to his lips.Then he pressed them to his forehead as he dipped as slight bow over their joined hands.

"Dayman, habibti.Always," he said.And releasing her hands he swung himself up into the saddle.

She stepped back out of the way of the horse, and felt someone take hold of her hand.She glanced over at Karida, who smiled.

Marhana danced under Ardeth for a moment and then reared, almost as if the stallion knew they were about to ride into battle, she thought.She looked up as Ardeth brought the horse under control and raised a hand to signal his men, calling for them to ride.


	17. The Nature of Sacrifice

Power Is

Chapter 17 

Riding between Rick and Ardeth as they approached the Temple she started to doubt the wisdom of her being there at all.Already they could see the large army of conjured warriors, a sea of red against the golden sand.Seth had obviously been busy.

Ardeth held up his hand and the Medjai halted at once.She saw him narrow his eyes as he looked into the distance, then he spoke rapidly to his chosen.

"What is it?" Rick asked.

"Over there," Ardeth pointed to a coral where a large number of horses teemed."He must have lured one of the local tribes into coming to him and slaughtered them all to make his warriors."

Rick raised his spyglass to look in the direction that Ardeth pointed.He lowered it soon after and looked quite horrified in the Medjai's direction.

"Ardeth there must be over a hundred horses there," he said.Ardeth nodded.

"And equally five times that number of warriors, possibly more."He looked over at Evie and then at Rick."If either of you wishes to turn back, or remain behind, none will think the less of you."

She pinned her husband with a meaningful look and Rick shook his head.He tucked the spyglass away and took the handle of the blade he had been given into his hand.

"We're with you all the way, old buddy," he said with a smile that Evie knew was forced.

"Then please," Ardeth looked past Rick and fixed _her with a serious expression."Do this one thing that I ask."_

"What?" she said.

"Fall back," he answered."Both of you."

"Ardeth," Rick started.

"The Medjai have already faced these kinds of odds while you fought a battle of a different kind.We are used fighting with such creatures."Ardeth held up his hand. "All I am asking is that you let us clear the way before you follow.Fight in the centre of our warriors if you must fight, but do not try to be in the front line."

"Ardeth we can…" Rick started to argue, but Evie understood the Medjai's concerns.If anything happened to either of them he would never be able to forgive himself.She reached over and put a hand onto her husband's arm.

"Rick, he's right," she said quietly."We should hang back and be ready to make a break for the temple as soon as the way is clear."She did not miss Ardeth's expression of gratitude.

**

Ardeth waited until his friends were safely ensconced in the midst of the warriors from the second tribe, far enough back to be safe, but close enough to appease O'Connell's pride.He did not want them touched by this conflict in any way that would bring them further tragedy.What had happened to Jonathan was enough.

"Advance!" he gave the order, and set a walking pace as his mind drifted back to that morning…

_By the time he and Meiri rose, one of his loyal men, probably Rashid, he thought, had brought them water for washing and fresh clothing for them both._

__

_Meiri had bitten her lip as she looked down on herself.He raised her eyes to his, cupping her chin in gentle fingers.His expression had been one of comfort and she reached for him.He held her tightly, before reaching for a cloth and washing her gently, every touch full of love._

__

_He let her dress – sensing that she was a little embarrassed as he too washed, and dressed only in the pants he would wear beneath his robes.His heart needed the comfort of ritual.He needed his wife – Meiri, for so he thought of her, in spite of having no formal ceremony – to clothe him for his battle ahead._

__

_"Will you help me, my love?" he asked quietly._

__

_"If you tell me how," she answered, smiling at him, and struggling slightly with her own veil._

__

_"Leave that," he suggested, taking the material from her hand and setting it aside."I will ask Karida to come and help you… and to make her peace with you."_

__

_"Oh, Ardeth there's no need… she was upset, she…"_

__

_"Wronged you and I will not have that.Not even from my sister," he said firmly and held out his hand._

__

_She slipped her fingers into his and he drew her out into the main room of the tent and into another gentle embrace._

__

_"You look so beautiful," he breathed against the top of her head._

__

_"I feel it," she answered."Ardeth this dress, it's… it's…"_

__

_"Nothing less than deserved for the wife of the First Medjai." He smiled and held her out a little from his side to look at her.She blushed and he shook his head in wonder._

__

_"Wife?" she asked shyly._

__

_"Yes."He kissed her forehead."My wife.By our laws, in giving ourselves to each other, we are considered married."_

__

_"Oh," she said, and blushed again.She laid her head against his chest and he wrapped his arms around her as she asked."Well there be a ceremony we have to go through?"_

__

_"Yes," he said quietly."Later… when all of this is settled."_

__

_She pulled away, and nodded."What do you need me to do?" she asked._

Absently, he touched the sash that held his robes fastened, that had been tied there by her gentle hand after she blessed his robes – a protective shield – with a kiss.

They were closer now, on top of a rise that looked down on the dunes surrounding the camp.Once more he held up his hand and the Medjai halted as one.He could clearly see the warriors of Seth, all standing ready to receive the Medjai in the killing ground between.

He sighed and shook his head.This was going to be vicious.They would need to press forward, and out of that dip as quickly as possible. They needed to get into the enemy camp.

"Hold the line," he instructed Rashid, then turning Marhana, galloped back to the leader of the eleventh tribe.They were especially strong and ferocious fighters, since they shared their territory with several different Tuareg tribes who were always raiding.

"When we begin the charge, use our movement as cover and take your warriors out to the eastern flank.Attack from the side and clear a path through for us to get out of that depression," he instructed, pointing down into the dip between the rise and the dunes across the inevitable battlefield.The older man nodded his understanding and acceptance of the order and satisfied, Ardeth rode back to take his position at the head of his twelve tribes.

He drew his scimitar and raised it high.All around him his fellow warriors did likewise.The ringing of steel sounded as a clear note in the afternoon air.He gave a resounding war cry that was echoed by his warriors and spurred Marhana into action as he and the Medjai went flying down into battle.

From the top of the dunes opposite the serpentine warriors began their own charge toward the Medjai, raising their weapons high to take down horse as well as man.Ardeth shouted back a warning to the warriors behind as he neared his first enemy and then fully concentrated all of his attention at the forthcoming battle.

He and his Chosen needed to get through.Though he had faith in his eleventh tribe to provide them with a path, the enemy they faced was an unknown force, but he was all too well aware that their power came from that of an ancient deity; they were an abomination.

His charge brought him to face the first of his enemies.He slashed with his scimitar, but the blow was met by the warrior he faced in a numbing parry.He did not let it slow him.He drew back his arm again, and with a greater speed afforded him by the size of his opponent's weapon, easily defeated his enemy's guard a second time and cut it down where it stood.

Without pause, he urged his horse forward.He could not allow himself to get stuck in the middle of the surging battle.He had a greater battle to fight; a battle that he alone could face.

**

If he hadn't been a part of it he would have not have believed the organisation and precision of the battle fought by the Medjai.He knew that Ardeth couldn't have had very long to brief his men, so how then did they each know so well what the others would do?

He could understand in terms of the individual bands of Medjai that were used to fighting together, but whole tribes?And the cohesion _between the actions of the tribes…?He felt the touch of something greater than mere human endeavour._

He let out a roaring cry as he launched himself at yet another warrior, having long since lost his horse in the course of the vicious battle as had many of the others.He sliced off the creatures head and turned just in time to protect himself from a blow from the side.They still had a way to go, but they had achieved the top of the dunes that Ardeth had been so concerned about.

Rick understood why.The dip between the rise that the Medjai had attacked from and the top of these dunes had been deadly; a natural bowl that had kept the Medjai pinned down while the unearthly warriors ripped through them.Ardeth and his chosen had broken the enemy line, but in the end it had been the flanking eleventh tribe that had turned the tide of the battle and allowed them to gain the dunes and regroup.

Ardeth gave a battle cry, something in Arabic and his warriors responded with a tremendous roar that somehow renewed their spirit; lent them that extra strength they needed to carry them forward into the still seething mass of warriors on the other side of the dunes they now crested.

Swords and scimitars flashed in the sunlight as the Medjai continued their forward momentum and Rick was swept along with them… caught up in the fierce battle, and quite literally fighting for his life as never before.

Surrounded by at least three of the warriors, he ducked and dived under incoming blades and parried where he could, but Ardeth had been right to insist that he and Evie remain out of the front line of the charge.He was quite seriously overmatched.

That thought made him worry about Evie.He only hoped she had managed to keep her horse under her and not, as he had done, lose her mount.He started trying to spot her in the mêlée

Hot pain sliced across his arm as a blade bit home, reminding him how much danger he was in.He whirled around and parried the next attack before beheading one creature and slicing through a second.The sandy flesh parted around his blade, but reformed, putting him perilously close to the supernaturally strong creature.

It made a grab for his throat and succeeded in clamping needle like fingers around his windpipe.He fought for breath, but brought his blade up to slice harmlessly through the serpentine warrior's wrist. As the flesh separated around the steel passing through it, the fingers loosened and he was freed, but not yet out of danger.

The warrior launched a ferocious attack, swinging its khopesh toward his head at with frightening strength.He brought his own sword up to parry the attack with both hands on the handle.Still it jarred seemingly every bone in his body and off balance he fell to his back on the sand and instantly began trying to get back to his feet.The second of the two creatures swung a heavy polearm down toward his chest.There was no way he would either get out of the way or parry the strike.

He closed his eyes and whispered silent apologies to Evie.

A rich, deep battle cry split the air and a moment later sand showered around and over him.He opened his eyes to see the welcome sight of Rashid, smiling down from horseback.

"You looked like you could do with a little help," he said and pulled the horse around to attack another nearby warrior of Seth.

"Yeah."Rick climbed to his feet and set his sword in motion against the nearest enemy. 

"We need to go!" Rashid called as two more of the serpentine figures exploded in spiralling whorls of sand.Rick clasped the hand he was offered and jumped up behind the Medjai warrior who barely waited before setting his horse leaping away through the battle.

**

Ardeth nodded to himself as Rashid and O'Connell slipped from the horse and joined them at the entrance to the temple.Close by, the battle still raged, but they had a more important task to do now.They had to find Anck-Su-Namun and put an end to the evil at large.

He smiled faintly as Evelyn threw her arms around O'Connell.It had been a combination of his friendship with the American, and her worry that had prompted him to ask Rashid to find him.

"Glad you could join us, my friend," he said quietly and he slapped O'Connell's shoulder.

"Yeah, me too," O'Connell said simply and held Evelyn tighter for a moment.Ardeth glanced at Rashid and raised an eyebrow in query.The expression on Rashid's face told him all he needed to know; he had found O'Connell in time to save the man's life.He nodded his thanks to his second in command.

"You all know your positions," Ardeth said to his Chosen."O'Connell, Rashid, Evelyn – _we must take the main temple – Find Anck-Su-Namun and some way to end this."_

They all turned and peered into the gloom of the Temple of the gods.A shiver travelled the length of Ardeth's spine.Such strange memories he had of the place; of remembering walking in but not how he got out, and then no memory of entering, but knowing he walked out triumphant.He sighed.And now he had returned again.

Almost absently, as though they brought him comfort, he lowered his hands to the hilts of his scimitars.They had been his life long companions, and had saved his life more times than he could count in many horrific situations and yet none more so than now, when he must face the power of a god.

Taking a deep breath, he turned and led his friends and warriors into the heart of temple.

One by one his warriors peeled away to fight their own battles with the fierce warriors guarding the temple.Loyal to the last, he knew they would keep those unnatural fighters from interfering with his purpose or being a danger to him or his friends.

His only worry, that the staircase narrowed as it approached the Temple of Isis.Already he could hear the growling hiss of warriors that were surely guarding the main chamber.A glance to the side, to O'Connell and Rashid showed him that they too had heard.

Turning the corner in the stairwell his fears were realised.Guarding the top of the stairs were four of the biggest warriors he thought possible.Taller even than the Anubis warriors had been they were dressed in armour that looked as though it had been fashioned from the black marble of the staircase itself.They were armed, not as the others, with heavy khopesh and polearms, but with smaller, lighter and more importantly faster curving sword and dagger combinations.

Ardeth raised his blades, hearing Rashid do likewise and lamenting that O'Connell would be unavoidably caught up in the fighting.He prayed that Evelyn would have the good sense to stay back.

"Medjaaaaiiiii, Hoooorrruuuuuss." Their voices sounded as a foul whispering chorus that struck him momentarily motionless.Beside him, Rashid – his most fearless and loyal companion – fell back a step as they advanced down toward them, raising their weapons as they came.

"Take heart, Rashid," he said quietly and raised his own blades in a crossed and ready position.

He breathed deeply to banish his rising disquiet.They already had the advantage of higher ground.There was no reason to give them further aid in what looked as though it would be a bitter fight.

The closest warrior lunged forward with sword and knife, one coming in high, toward Ardeth's shoulder the other low, aiming for his thigh.He parried quickly, but was forced to reverse the direction of his scimitar in his left hand as his opponent stopped the downward sweep of the long knife and turned it inward, pressing dangerously close to his recently healed stomach.

**

It became a blur of steel above him as Rashid joined the fight and the two Medjai blocked the staircase, battling the monstrous creatures.Neither warrior gave ground, in fact pressed the creatures to retreat with the ferocity of their counterattacks against them.

Rick breathed out sharply and gripped the single blade he carried tightly.So long as his Medjai friends didn't advance too far, and so long as neither was pushed back – or worse still – defeated, he and Evie would be safe from having to join in with the fight.It was a relief, because he did not honestly think he could manage to hold his own against such skill in swordplay as these creatures had._Give me a gun any day! _

Sparks flashed in the gilded staircase, soon discharged in the faintly flickering torchlight only to be replaced by more as the Medjai fought fervently.The tide of the battle flowed too and fro.On more than one occasion Rick worried that he was going to have to stand with the Medjai as they were forced back to a wider part of the stairs allowing a third warrior to step forward.His palms grew damp and his stomach churned, but just when he would have stepped forward Ardeth shifted his foot and changing the pattern of his attacks, forced the creature he was battling back up toward the temple doorway.He feinted… a low attack with both scimitars, and as soon as the creature started to move for the parry, he spun one of them up over the other and took the creature's head cleanly, momentarily obscuring Rick's view with the ensuing shower of sand and dust.

Far from turning the tide of the battle the Medjai's way, the loss of one of the creatures stirred their caution.Where the warriors outside of the temple would have stepped up to take their fallen comrade's place, the two unengaged creatures stayed exactly where they were.If they wanted to be rid of the guards, Ardeth would have to move up, and that would give him two opponents to fight.

With a frustrated growl, Ardeth did just that and glancing back at Evie, not willing to let his friend walk so willingly into danger, Rick stepped into the space beside him.

"What are you doing?" Ardeth snapped off the question between fending off attacks from both of the warriors.

"You can't have all the fun," he answered, but the tight note in his voice made his comments less than convincing.

"Get out of here!"

"No way." He swung the sword up to intercept a blow aimed at Ardeth's left arm.He guessed that his Medjai friend must have got the message, because he turned his full attention back to the whirling fury that was the sword and knife in the hands of his opponent.

**

Every time the giant serpentine warriors swung their blades even _close to her husband she flinched.These warriors were different.It was as though they were anticipating the strikes against them and parrying almost before the attacks were made._

That was it…

"Rick!" she yelled.

"Not right now, honey," he said, straining to push back one of the warriors he fought."Kinda busy!"

"No," she said, "You have to stop thinking and just act."

"What?" Ardeth half looked round at Evie and received a slice to his shoulder in the next moment.

"Act!" she urged them all."They're in your head – they can see what you're going to do!Don't think, just act!"

She all but rung her hands, praying that she was right as she saw the obvious shift in the fighting style of the Medjai; as they began to flow with the battle they were fighting rather than to direct that flow.Soon the creatures they fought were reeling under the onslaught.

To Rick though, it made little difference and she realised that all along he had been reacting to the battle… following the lead of the creatures he was fighting and blocking to save his own life and keep the creature off Ardeth.She had to help.

She started forward at the precise moment when Ardeth found a hole in the defence of the creature he was fighting and struck with swift and deadly accuracy.The creatures head came clear of its body and showered the entire stairwell with dusty sand.

"Evelyn, no!" he instructed her, obviously guessing her intent, and he turned to aid Rick in his fight.She relaxed slightly, knowing – finally – that her husband was going to be safe.

Buoyed by their success and their own momentum, Rick and Ardeth soon made dust of their opponent, just as an exhausted Rashid finally found the break he needed, and took the last creature's head with his scimitar.

For a moment there was silence before, horrified, Evie became aware of a rhythmic whooshing sound that was getting louder.She turned and peered into the eerily lit temple in time to see the three pronged dagger coming end over end in their direction – no, not in their direction, but toward Rashid.

She opened her mouth to call a warning to the distracted Medjai, but in the same moment Ardeth turned too, and caught sight of the incoming blade.

"Rashid, háasib!"

Rashid turned, trying to raise his scimitar to deflect the blade, but the warning had come too late, any warning would have, and it struck home, high in his side.Ardeth caught him as he fell, supporting him to the ground even as Evie saw him trying to assess the injury.

"Sidd heelak," Ardeth said.He unwound the covering from his head and pressed it around the knife wound in Rashid's side.

"Ana bekheer," Rashid gasped."Wala shie."

Movement from the temple caught Evie's attention and dragged it away from the conversation she could not understand.Everything in her tensed in angry revulsion as she saw Anck-Su-Namun, looking satisfied, coming toward the two Medjai.In her hands she carried two identical blades.Without thinking she dashed past her friends, pausing only to relieve a nearby statue of its similar styled blades, and advanced on her long time enemy.

"Ee-demejen khenah.We meet again." She said, raising the weapons, as Anck-Su-Namun likewise.The two women dropped into a ready stance, knees slightly bent, weight balanced, and began to circle one another menacing.

"Nefertiri," Anck-Su-Namun nodded in greeting.

"Anck-Su-Namun."

**

"Evelyn!" Ardeth glanced in horror as Evie approached the deadly and armed woman.He felt the air move as O'Connell dashed past him to aid his wife.

"Don't interfere, Rick." Evelyn instructed."This is long past due."

A touch on Ardeth's hand where he pressed the cloth against Rashid's wound turned his attention momentarily away from his friends.

"Go, Ardeth." Rashid told him."It is not as bad as it looks.Your warning deflected the worst of it."As if to belie his words, Rashid's face became a picture of pain."The others will be here soon, they can care for me, and you are needed."

Ardeth nodded."Be strong, my friend."

"God willing.Now go."

He stood, turned and entered the room, where O'Connell was inching closer to Evelyn.Immediately he crossed to her left, as his friend stood on her right.He met O'Connell's gaze, and understood at once that if he saw a chance, an opening, her husband was going to get her out, whether she wanted it or not.He once more drew his blades, standing ready to act when the moment came.

Anck-Su-Namun moved first, lunging forward, her blades pointed towards Evelyn's chest, but the English woman met the strike.Blades tangled and she swept her arms outward to the side, throwing off the contact and returning to her state of readiness.She spat some angry words toward the other woman in what must have been Ancient Egyptian, then made and attack of her own.

Each hand worked independently of the other, one clockwise, one anticlockwise, making circling slashes with the two blades that Anck-Su-Namun parried, sending sparks out to either side of the fighting women.Neither stopped moving.Circling and striking in a very fluid manner, neither one scoring serious hits, only tearing clothing or grazing skin.They also left no opening for O'Connell or himself to intervene.He thought he would probably need to create one, when he sensed movement from behind the huge Isian altar.

Evelyn must have sensed it too and distracted, she lost a blade as Anck-Su-Namun swept a vicious swift strike across her left wrist.Automatically Ardeth raised his scimitar to deflect the knife that came flying his way and the sight of the fighting women was momentarily blocked by the flying black of his robes.

"Evie, no!" 

His heart lurched at the tone in O'Connell's voice and we quickly lowered his arm so that he could see, could assess how he might be able to help.Evelyn was locked together with Anck-Su-Namun.One hand, still holding the blade was high, the blades locked in the prongs of the other woman's own knife.Her other hand strained, holding Anck-Su-Namun's wrist, in an attempt to keep the three pronged knife away from her belly.

But worse… behind Anck-Su-Namun, from the shadows behind the altar, Imhotep stalked toward them, holding in his own hands a wickedly curving and barbed long knife.

"Neiy," he commanded Anck-Su-Namun sharply, and surprisingly the woman halted, but did not stop struggling with Evelyn to make the strike."Anck-Su-Namun."

Something about the quality of his voice had Ardeth look again at the two women, and then at the high priest behind them.Their eyes met.Hazel and brown locked in mutual respect and almost gentle animosity, tamed as it was by distance.

_"You want to know why, do you not, my brother."_

The voice was inside his head and was accompanied by another sickening realisation.Imhotep and Seth were one.

_"Why I would protect someone who has always stood in my way?Whatever the outcome here, life prevails, and one who grows so close to such a source of power…"_

The world spun sickeningly for a moment, and Ardeth found himself seeing through Imhotep's eyes.Their power enhanced by that of the god within him, he saw the increased life force flowing in and around Evelyn.

The shock and surprise of the revelation threw him back into his own body and his eyes instantly flicked toward where Anck-Su-Namun's hand still struggled to bring the blade home into her opponent's body.

Once more he raised his eyes to meet with those of Imhotep's.The high priest of Osiris, vessel for Osiris' rival Seth raised and eyebrow in query and then stepped up behind Anck-Su-Namun.

"I told you that we had to clean up the mess you made, my love."He spoke in Ancient Egyptian, but somehow the momentary connection with Imhotep, or perhaps something awakening within himself, afforded him an understanding of them."Now… it ends."

Imhotep slipped his arm around beneath Anck-Su-Namun's raised left hand, pulling her backwards into his deadly embrace.The knife in his right hand slipped in through her flesh as though into nothing but air.

His muscles bunched as she let out a stifled cry of shocked surprised."Imhotep…?"

"Anck-Su-Namun," he murmured almost lovingly and twisted his hand holding the knife.When he looked up from watching the life leaving her body, it was to lock colder, almost glowing eyes with Ardeth's.

"O'Connell, get out," Ardeth said urgently."Get Evelyn out of here.She is carrying your child."

"What?"

"Go!"

"But you…" Evie protested.

"Get out," he said.

Drawing his other scimitar, Ardeth took time to shrug off his heavy robes, but refastened the sash around him.He would not forsake the protection of his lady.He glanced at O'Connell who still had not moved, then raised his scimitars and turned to face Imhotep.

The high priest shrugged off his own robes, revealing the armour and breastplate of Seth adorning his sleekly muscled chest.

**

Rick made a grab for Evie's hand and pulled her out of the centre of the room and toward the door.

"We can't just leave him," she protested."That's not just Imhotep in there."

"That's not just Ardeth either," he said as they reached the door and both crouched to check on the semi conscious Rashid.

"I am all right," he whispered as Rick checked his wound.He'd lost a fair bit of blood but actually didn't seem too bad.With a sigh, he turned to Evie.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Tell you what?" she asked.

"Oh come _on Evie, you told Ardeth, you must have!" It wasn't exactly jealousy he felt, just dismay, confusion._

"I didn't tell him anything," she sighed."Imhotep…"

"You _told Imhotep?"he was incredulous.He couldn't believe that she'd tell that __thing and not tell him._

"No, he saw," she said."And I don't _know why I didn't tell you.I didn't want you treating me like china."_

"But Evie," he tried.

"But nothing," she cried."This isn't the time for this.I knew that if I told you, _you'd be the one sending me back to Cairo under guard and then we would never have got through this, and Ardeth would still be dead!"_

"Please," Rashid whispered trying to deflect the growing argument."Do not…"

"Oh my God!" He need not have tried.Rick glanced back into the temple chamber in time to see Ardeth and Imhotep face off against each other.He could feel the palpable sense of icy danger even across the distance.

**

"So, my brother, my nemesis, we are met again at last." Imhotep reached out to the dais and picked up the sword of gold and obsidian.

"So...it begins.We come to this point again and again and nothing ever changes." Ardeth answered.

With both men joined by their respective divine energies flowing through them, language was no barrier.

"Oh everything changes," Seth growled through Imhotep's voice."This time, Horus, you die."

"We shall see." Ardeth as Horus responded calmly and lightly tapped the side of Imhotep's blade with one of his scimitars.

Imhotep responded with a blurring attack.Gold flashed and reflected the light of the many torches around the room.He ducked under the sweeping blade and came up behind Imhotep who turned to face him immediately.Blade clashed against blade as the high priest used the momentum of the turn to swing the sword in from the side and his scimitar met the blade in a resounding, ringing parry.

He didn't wait.He used the other blade to strike at Imhotep's undefended side.Imhotep's arm, wearing the heavy bracer belonging to Seth's armour deflected the scimitar wide and then stepped forward and inside Ardeth's guard punched out with the hilt of the sword, reversed in his hand, hard against his shoulder.

He fell back, allowing Imhotep the time to bend down and retrieve the wicked long dagger from its sheath in Anck-Su-Namun's body.Imhotep straightened up, meeting him on more equal terms.

"_Now we shall see," Imhotep said with menace._

He merely inclined his head and came on with another fierce attack.Both scimitars rolled around his hand to strike hard at the blades in Imhotep's hands, giving him no quarter.

Descending blades were met strike for strike by the rising counters and parries that came from the Ancient raised creature that was Imhotep.Sparks leaped and added their light to the darkening room, until the only light seemed to be coming from those sparks and from the men themselves.

He lunged, and overreached he missed the parry and felt the sting of Imhotep's long barbed knife against his hip.He stepped back quickly to regain his balance and shift his grip on the scimitar that was in his left hand.He snapped the right out quickly to intercept the incoming strike of the sword, then up to get inside Imhotep's guard, lowered by the attack and slice along the other man's shoulder.

He jumped back almost at once and the fight suddenly shifted in momentum.Strikes came faster and harder, and soon the sound in the temple was continuous as they struck and parried so quickly that steel was always met against steel.

In a moment's pause, locked together, hilt against hilt their eyes met again and this time the animosity was far from gentle.Hatred poured from each man's eyes, hot and bitter.

"Time this were finished, First Medjai," Seth mocked through Imhotep's smooth, calm voice.

"Long past," he agreed.

"My pleasure."Imhotep's eyes flicked downward, providing a warning against the blade that was pointing, barbed side uppermost, at his vulnerable stomach.He renewed the strength of the push against the hand that held it, but battle weary, that strength was starting to fade a little.

He began to bend backwards, pulling against the grasp Imhotep suddenly had on his right hand… held high and trapped between the hilt of his scimitar and Seth's golden blade.Only one way this could end… and only one thing left to do.

He let go of the scimitar in his right hand and grasped Imhotep's sword by the guard, wincing as he caught the side of his hand against the sharp side of the sword, and used the momentum of his sacrifice and Imhotep's surprise to roll around the other man and let himself fall to the ground.

He continued the roll, backwards, over his head until he once more got his feet under him.He tossed his one remaining scimitar from his left to his right hand as the former High Priest of Osiris turned and came toward him again, long knife leading his enraged charge and still aimed at the unarmoured and undefended side of his body.

As soon as the man was close enough, he punched forward with his scimitar leading, allowing Imhotep to pull him forward into a deadly embrace.

"That was always your problem, _brother," he gasped in pain."You never did understand the nature of sacrifice."_

**

As they reached the entrance they met up with the others of Ardeth's Chosen.They lowered Rashid carefully to the sand and thunder shook the ground as it came from directly overhead.

The camp outside was awash with Medjai, still fighting the remnants of Seth's warriors, more still than Rick could count and many more injured Medjai yet lay where they had fallen.He hated to think of the casualties they would have taken that day.It looked to be many.

At the second rumble of thunder, everything changed.The unearthly warriors of Seth let out a terrifying roar that drove even the most hardened of Medjai warriors back a step in fear, and then exploded into a devastating and blinding shower of red.

All across the camp, nothing could be seen for many long moments as the sand and dust drifted in the air.The silence was eerie, unsettling.

"Let me see," Rashid struggled to sit up, and winced as the pain from his wound burned against his side.

"Rashid," he said, meaning to tell the Medjai to lie still.

"Let me see, O'Connell." Rashid forced the words past his lips and gritted his teeth as Rick helped him into a more upright position.

The battlefield was empty except for the Medjai, standing in shocked silence, some of them still in the attitude of striking an opponent; frozen like statues.

Suddenly, almost as one, they realised that their battle was over and that they had prevailed.They lifted their voices and yelled in wordless thanks toward the heavens.As they fell to silence again, all eyes looked to their proxy leader.

"Attend to the dead and wounded," Rashid called as strongly as he could.His words were caught up and repeated more strongly by Tarek in Arabic.The Medjai nodded their ascent and immediately set about the task of helping their fellows that had fallen in battle.

Rick couldn't help but look back to the temple at that thought.

**

Taking a very deep breath, and unwinding his hand from the sash in which he had caught the incoming strike of the more than deadly knife, Ardeth lowered the fallen Imhotep to the floor of the temple beside the body of his one time lover, Anck-Su-Namun.

He took time to clean his blades as best he could on the high priest's discarded robes, but the injuries to his own hands, the one on his left, that had torn in spite of the protection afforded him by the sash as he caught the barbed knife that would otherwise have taken his life, made that task more difficult.

He looked around the temple.It would make a good resting place for these two… who had thought themselves gods – able to shape the future of the world.He snorted.How wrong they had been.

With a tired sigh, he turned and picked up his outer robe…Another place for the Medjai to guard… another task to divide their forces still further…. Still it could not be helped.He would need to do something about their number.No doubt many had been lost in the battle outside.

Slowly he made his way down the steps of the temple that had irrevocably changed his life and the life of all the Medjai after him.

As he emerged into the light of the late evening sun a huge cheer went up from his fellow warriors.Words came to him…Ancient words – but he spoke them none the less, first as he had heard them, and then in Arabic for his fellows to understand.

"I have returned.I have seen my divine father and have stabbed at the heart of Seth."Evie translated the Ancient Egyptian quietly.He smiled, and nodded at her and O'Connell before he joined them next to his injured second in command.

"Rashid?" he enquired quietly.

"I am going to be fine, my chief." Rashid answered, and clasped his right hand tightly."But you…"

"Not my blood, my friend," he said."Well, most of it."

"Ardeth, your hand!" Evie reached for his left hand and pulled off a strip from the bottom of her already stained blouse.

"It will heal." He let her wrap it none the less, and then clasped both her and Rick by the tops of their shoulders."Congratulations, my friends."

"Thanks… Ardeth."Rick managed after a moment.

"If the injured are able to travel," he started, "I want to bring that cliff down over the entrance to this place."

Rick glanced over his shoulder at the sandstone cliff above the temple doorway.

"No problem." He answered, suddenly getting a wicked gleam in his eyes.

**

She leaped to her feet as the door of the tent opened and then froze.She had never seen another look as beautiful as he did in the moment he returned to her, safe and mostly whole.

She looked him over again just to be sure.There was a bandage around the palm of his left hand, and one or two cuts and bruises she could see peeking out from beneath the light robe he had donned on his way back from bathing – for the sake of decency, but otherwise, he was perfect.

"Ardeth," she forced his name past the lump in her throat.

"May I come in?" he asked.

Smiling, she held out her hands in his direction.It was all the invitation he needed.He crossed the room and crushed her in an all consuming hug.She held him just as tightly and then lost herself in him as he drew back enough to capture her lips in a delicate, but fast becoming passionate kiss.

Epilogue 

He paced back and forth outside the doorway, wincing each time he heard her cry out; wanting to be by her side, but pushed out by the older women, and by the customs of his people.

_Allah, keep her safe._

He sighed, forcing down the feeling of nausea his worry lent him.Wishing there was something he could do… worrying that it was taking so long.

They had fetched him from the battle – siege more like – against yet another of the hostile Tuareg tribes, long before dawn, and already it was late into the night.

He swallowed… wrong!It was all so wrong!The Tuareg attacks just as he was trying to rebuild the Medjai's numbers to ensure their survival was like adding insult to recent injury.

He was just about to throw his weight behind ignoring the midwife's orders and push into the birthing tent when a new sound split the night air, an infant's cry, loud and healthy.He could barely contain himself through the long minutes of waiting while they made Meiri fit for his visit, before they _finally admitted him._

The chief midwife, a woman called Fatima, carefully handed him a bundle that seemed to him so small.He peered at the swaddled child.His child… his…

"A son, First Medjai."

Tears welled up in his eyes that he fought to contain in front of the woman."And his mother?" he asked, breathing out hard.

"Tired, but quite well," the old woman smiled at him and laid a hand briefly onto his arm."Take her son to her, Ardeth Bay."

He carried the tiny boy through to the other room where two other women were still mopping Meiri's brow, and cleaning away her tears.They jumped away, and swept low bows in Ardeth's direction before they scurried out.

**

"Meiri, habibti…" a soft touch, smoothing back her hair and his gentle, quiet voice made her open her eyes and look over to the man she loved so much as he settled beside her bed.

"Habibi," she said.Fresh tears came as she saw the quiet joy reflected in his brown eyes that also were awash with tears."Ardeth…"

"You have given me a son, little one," he told her gently, and leaning down to her, set the warm squirming bundle into her arms.He planted a gentle kiss on her brow."Sweet angel of my heart."

She looked down at the infant and could not have seen anything more perfect…A tiny nose and even more tiny perfect fingers that seemed to be reaching for her from inside his wrappings.In truth he was rather wrinkled, but she didn't see it.

"He's so… beautiful," she sobbed.

"Then he already takes after his mother," Ardeth answered."Will you name him, my heart, or shall I?"

"That star," she pointed with a shaking hand toward the patch of sky she could see just above the horizon through the open doorway of the birthing tent."What do you call it in Arabic?"

Ardeth looked out with her, toward the sky that was already lightening toward dawn.

"Suhayl," he answered."The Star of the Morning."

"Then call him Suhayl," she said.

**

Ardeth nodded, and then moving carefully so as not to hurt her, settled himself behind her so that he could hold them both, he whispered quietly, almost to himself, although he was sure that Meirionnydd heard every word he spoke even if she did not understand.

"Peace be upon you, my son.Welcome to the First Tribe, Suhayl.May Allah smile upon you… always."

_Fin._


End file.
